The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), The world Business organization, (Paris) the institutional representative of 45 million companies, has elected MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga as Chair.
Banga, who has served as ICC’s First Vice-Chair since June 2018, becomes ICC Chair with immediate effect, succeeding Paul Polman who becomes ICC Honorary Chair, having served as Chair for the past two years. Yassin Al Suroor, founder and the Executive Chairman of A’amal group was re-elected as Vice Chair.
The election of Mr. Banga during the annual ICC World Council virtual Meeting held on 23 June also confirmed Maria Fernanda Garza, CEO of Orestia and current Board member, as ICC First Vice-Chair – making her the first woman to hold this position.
Banga said: “I am delighted to step into the role of ICC Chair, taking over from my friend Paul Polman. In this challenging time, I intend to build on the work underway at ICC and to ensure that the organisation, on behalf of business globally, continues to lead in promoting greater prosperity and opportunity for all, which includes being a crucial voice in the re-building of a sustainable and inclusive global economy.”
Prior to joining Mastercard, Mr Banga served as Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup Asia Pacific. He served as a member of United States’ President Barack Obama’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity and a past member of Mr Obama’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.
Garza has served as an ICC Executive Board member since 2014 and is the ICC Regional Coordinator for the Americas and a member of the governing body of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. A strong advocate of business ethics and corporate governance standards,
Paul Polman, former CEO of consumer goods company Unilever and CEO and Chairman of IMAGINE, is a leading advocate for the role of business in driving progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Among key activities undertaken during his tenure as ICC Chair, Mr Polman led an ICC delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in 2019 and the Climate Action Summit, underscoring the imperative that sustainable development calls for greater ambition by world leaders and an alignment of policy frameworks to scale up solutions and enable businesses to place the SDGs at the core of their operations.
Denton said: "ICC thanks Paul for his deep commitment to our global institution. Under his leadership we have made great strides in securing business commitment to drive long-term sustainable growth and development as well as ICC’s own sustainability objectives in line with global goals.”
