The results of the elections for the ICA leadership team have been announced at the Association’s Annual General Meeting, which was held during its recent ‘Liverpool 2013’ trade event on 25 October 2013.
Mr Mohit Shah (Director, Gill & Co, India) takes on the role of ICA President. Mohit is the ICA’s first Asian president and he will be supported by Mr Jean-Marc Derossis (Managing Director, Plexus Cotton Ltd, UK) as First Vice President and Mr Jordan Lea (Eastern Trading Company, USA) as Second Vice President.
New to the board are Colin Iles (Trader, Glencore Grain BV, Netherlands), Greg Wakefield (President, Wakefield Inspection Services Inc, USA), Pascal Brun (Global Material Manager, H&M, Hong Kong), Patrick Laine (CEO, Better Cotton Initiative, Switzerland) and Steven Shiou-Chung Chen (Chairman, Tah Tong Textile, Taiwan).
Now comprising 24 members, the new board line-up continues to represent the ICA’s global membership across all sectors of the supply chain and builds on its international credentials to engage the entire global cotton community.
On accepting the role of President, Mohit delivered an emotive speech that sent out a clear message to defaulters. He also paid special tribute to his late father, Dhirajlal Shah, who introduced him to the world of cotton.
“I accept this role with humbleness and humility and at the same time I feel privileged and special with a true belief and conviction that being president of this prestigious association is the greatest honour I can ever receive. Over the next 12 months I will endeavor to build on the excellent work done by my predecessors and the [ICA] board to forge ahead with the internationalisation of the association. We can only truly achieve this through communication, education and engagement across the industry spectrum to ensure the ICA remains the only truly global cotton arbitral body representing the interests of both buyers and sellers.
“There should be no room or tolerance towards anyone who trades with a defaulter. This to me is paramount. We must ensure that we remain united and not look at short term gains only to realise long term pain. This association was set up as an association of people epitomising trust and integrity. Business has unfortunately moved from an informal handshake to iron clad contracts in today’s environment and the upheavals caused during the recent years have cost this trade dearly. Trading with any defaulter completely compromises our principles of contract sanctity and creates incomprehensible injustice.”
Mohit joined the ICA Board of Directors in 2010 and was nominated as ICA Second Vice President in 2011. Based in Mumbai, Mohit has over 20 years’ experience in the cotton trade and is the fourth generation in his family business. He is a director and co-owner of Gill & Co Pvt Ltd, which was established in 1886 and is one of the oldest cotton companies in India. Today, Gill & Co is a Four Star Export Company that owns two cotton ginning and pressing factories in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Mohit is a well-known figure in the international cotton trade. At Gill & Co, he is responsible for the trading of cotton worldwide, corporate strategy and investments plus planning new business and expansion. He is also responsible for Gill & Co’s other commodity business and trades in corn, sugar and pulses.
