Zaved brand-new CEO of Unilever Bangladesh
Unilever Bangladesh, one of the largest fast-moving consumer goods companies, has appointed a Bangladeshi as its ceo and managing director for the next time.
The brand new appointee, Zaved Akhtar, happens to be serving as the vice president of Digital Transformation & Growth, South Asia, based in India. He is normally likely to join from July 1, 2021, according to a news release yesterday.
"It is wonderful to come back home as we see the amazing monetary and social transformation of Bangladesh and lead a good company that is part of everyday lifestyle of each Bangladeshis since independence," Akhtar told The Daily Star found in his instant reaction after the announcement of his latest appointment.
"We have an excellent foundation and an excellent momentum going our way. Now the duty is cut out for me and the workforce to take Unilever Bangladesh to the next trajectory of expansion as we serve our buyers and consumers while we create a confident impact on the city where we operate in," he said.
The first national was Kamran Bakr, who had served from 2012 to 2017.
Akhtar might succeed Kedar Lele, who all has been around the post since January 2018. Lele started to be the chairman furthermore to his role as the managing director in 2020.
Lele will continue while the chairman of Unilever Bangladesh, aside from his new assignment due to the executive director of buyer development at Hindustan Unilever.
Akhtar, a graduate of the Institute of Organization Administration, University of Dhaka, started his career with British American Tobacco. He became a member of Unilever as a senior company manager because of its oral care business in 2000.
With 24 years of professional experience across South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australasia, he has strong expertise in consumer centricity and design thinking, which has helped him build capabilities in brand development, communication and innovation management.
In his current position, Akhtar create a "Digital Council" for Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) and anchored the "Reimagine HUL" agenda, a widely recognised program across Unilever as a thorough end-to-end digital transformation program with impact.
Sanjiv Mehta, president of Unilever South Asia, welcomed Akhtar to the South Asia Leadership Team. "I am certain that he'll lead the Bangladesh organization to greater heights," he said.
Unilever started its journey in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1964. Today, it manufactures items under more than 28 brands.
The British multinational consumer goods company has 1,500 plus employees, and a lot more than 20,000 persons work in its value chain, according to Jatra, a publication on the journey of Unilever in Bangladesh.
