The results of the elections for the ICA President,First and Second Vice President and Directors were announced at our recent Annual General Meeting.
Antonio Esteve (CEO, Ecom Cotton Group) takes on the role of ICA President.Antonio will be supported by Ahmed Elbosaty (Chairman & Managing Director, Modern Nile Cotton Company) as First Vice President and Mohit Shah (Director, Gill & Co) as Second Vice President.
New to the ICA board is Zhang Fangchun (Genera lManager, International Trading Dept, China National Cotton Group Corporation),who will represent the common interests of the China cotton industry.
Now consisting of 21 members, representing 14 countries, the new board line-up represents the Association’s global membership and continues to build on the ICA’s international credentials to engage the entire cotton community.
On accepting the role of President,Antonio explained: “The cotton industry is at a crossroads. The unprecedented extreme rise in prices to historically high levels, and the subsequent drop, has put the principle of contract sanctity to its maximum test. The way the industry reacts to thiscircumstance shall shape it for years to come. The sustainability and survivalof the cotton supply chain is at stake. We need to stick together as an industry and not trade with those on the default list.”
Based in São Paulo, Brazil,Antonio’s professional cotton career began in Paraguay in 1977, where he set up and managed a cotton gin, whilst also founding a soy bean trading operation. Born in Barcelona, Spain in 1955, Antonio was naturalized as a US citizen and brought up in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was schooled in Texas and obtained his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University in Washington DC. Since 1980 he has lived in São Paulo, where he has been actively involved with soy bean,coffee, oilseeds and cotton trading. Antonio is currently CEO of the Ecom Cotton Group and is one of Ecom’s Managing Directors. He is President of Empresa Interagricola S/A, Adesa, Casa da Paz andAssociação Beneficente Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora. He also serves on the Board of Columbia S.A. and ANEA.
