Sunil Bharti Mittal

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises was recently elected as the Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), becoming the third Indian business leader to hold this prestigious position in the body’s near – 100 year history.
Founded in 1919, ICC is the world’s largest business organization which  represents private-sector views to national governments and intergovernmental bodies around the world. It advocates for free trade and the market economy, working through a network of national committees and direct members in over 130 countries.

On the other hand, the organization was awarded the highest level consultative status with the United Nations (UN) in 1946, and since then has represented the private sector by engaging in a broad range of activities with the UN and its specialized agencies.  Mittal is now the new guy on the driving seat taking over from Terry McGraw, Chairman Emeritus of S&P Global, who will subsequently be the ICC’s Honorary Chairman. The ICC World Council elected the leaders in a voting that took place in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Closely associated with spearheading the Indian industry’s global trade, collaboration and policy, he is expected to play a constructive role and drive the voice of global business in formulation of economic and trade policies to support inclusive growth.

He served on the Prime Minister of India’s Council on Trade & Industry. He is also a member of the India-US, India-UK and India-Japan CEO Forums. He is Co-Chair of the India-Africa Business Council and India-Sri Lanka CEO Forum, and was the President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the premier industry body in India in 2007-08.  In addition, he has also been awarded Harvard Business School’s Alumni Achievement Honor – the utmost honor accorded by the institute to its alumni. He is the recipient of GSMA’s prestigious Chairman award, besides being decorated with numerous industry honors. Sunil has been conferred Honorary Doctorates by several leading universities in India and UK.
And the golden nugget: “The global economy is facing unprecedented headwinds to growth and there is an urgent need to restore trade and investment as a driver of growth and jobs, particularly in the developing world and this will be a central focus of my tenure.”