THE WHAT? Unilever Bangladesh has named Zaved Akhtar as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, according to a report published by the Dhaka Tribune, effective July 1.

THE DETAILS Zaved will join the Unilever South Asia Leadership Team and succeeds Kedar Lele, who will continue as Chairman of Unilever Bangladesh and join the Hindustan Unilever Management Committee as Executive Director.

Akhtar joined Unilever in 2000 and has served across a series of senior roles at the FMCG giant, most recently as Vice President of Digital Transformation & Growth in South Asia.

THE WHY? Sanjiv Mehta, Unilever South Asia President, told the Dhaka Tribune, “I would like to thank Kedar for his outstanding leadership of the Bangladesh business and laud his efforts towards strengthening customer development execution, transforming the company’s end-to-end supply chain, developing talent and improving diversity in UBL.

“I am delighted to welcome Zaved as the CEO and MD of Unilever Bangladesh, and to the South Asia Leadership Team. His contribution towards crafting Unilever’s Five Fundamentals of Growth and driving the Reimagine HUL agenda in India has been tremendous. I am certain that he will lead the Bangladesh business to greater heights.”