Brussels, October 25th, 2018 – The leading global business association for open and sustainable trade, amfori, has welcomed its first-ever Vice Presidents (VPs) for strategy and innovation and corporate affairs. The two new positions have been created in response to consistent membership growth and to steer implementation of amfori’s Vision 2030 Strategy for inspiring action around the world. In the past decade, amfori membership has risen from around 400 retailers, importers, brands and national associations, to well over 2,300 in 2018, underlining the need for greater internal capacity.

 

Zeb Asghar, the newly appointed VP for Strategy and Innovation, and Christophe Honinckx, VP for Corporate Affairs, will drive change at scale and grow amfori as a hub of new business models for sustainable value chains that are both economically profitable and beneficial for society.

 

Welcoming the new members of the executive team, amfori’s President, Christian Ewert, said: “We live in a fast-changing and challenging world. Standing by our values of leadership and excellence, we need to constantly inject innovation into our daily operations. Only through innovation can we expand our offer of cutting-edge products and services that help our members become the leaders of a sustainable tomorrow. Zeb Asghar brings a new type of expertise to invigorate amfori’s operations through innovation, while Christophe Honinckx will support the team through the ongoing organisational transformation and help cultivate our staff’s innovative mind-set.”

 

Zeb Asghar is highly experienced in strategy and innovation. Most recently, she led innovation and strategic programmes at Volvo Financial Services. Prior to this, she held various management positions for strategy, business development, programmes and finance at Cisco UK, USA and Belgium, where she won several achievement and recognition awards. Under her leadership, amfori will increase its capacity to monitor and predict trends that impact members. She will also support in expanding amfori’s offering of world-class sustainability and advocacy services.

Christophe Honinckx has a strong management background in finance and operations. He has worked in sectors ranging from fashion retail to luxury good, telecom services and audits. To amfori he will bring valuable insights from the business cultures of leading brands such as Inditex and LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics, both names that represent robust CSR strategies and global reputations. He will lead amfori’s growth strategy to ensure its long-term success.