Arvind Mathew MD and President, Ford India

Mr Arvind Mathew, MD and President of Ford India, joined the company in 1990 as a Business Planning Analyst. In his previous role, as Vice President for Manufacturing and Supply, Mr Mathew was involved in the development of new vehicle and power train programmes for India. Additionally, he played a lead role in building a robust supplier base for localisation programmes in India and also in promoting exports from the country.

In the last sixteen years that Mr Mathew has been with Ford, he has held a range of engineering, product planning, and new product implementation positions in North America, Germany, Spain, Turkey, and the U.K., and has worked on Ford and Mazda vehicle programmes. His rich experience in new vehicle programmes and broad international experience will help accelerate Ford’s growth in India.

A mechanical engineer from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani , Mr Mathew completed his MS in mechanical engineering and his MBA from the University of Michigan.

Jitu H Mehta President, Spencer’s Retail, RPG Group

Mr Jitu H Mehta, President of Spencer’s Retail with the RPG Group, started his career in Hindustan Lever Ltd. in the functional area of finance in factories, audit and profit centres. He enriched his commercial competencies by extending his reach to the buying function, including the critical commodity buying function. He went to become the Chief Buyer of HLL in 1989. From 1992 onwards, he handled various general management assignments as Vice President of animal feeds, Divisional Vice President of coffee/popular tea and Executive Director of ice creams. He has built Bru and Kwality Wall’s as strong brands in their respective domains.

A management graduate from IIM, Ahmedabad, Mr Mehta has been passionate in turning around difficult businesses and putting them on a sustainable growth track. In 2000, he was elevated to the management committee of HLL. In July 2005, he joined the RPG Group as the President of Spencer’s Retail.

Roger D Calmeyer MD, Colgate-Palmolive, India

Mr Roger Calmeyer joined Colgate-Palmolive in 1974 and held increasingly responsible marketing and management positions in the United States, Canada, Belgium, South Africa, East Africa and Romania. Mr Calmeyer was General Manager of Colgate South Eurasia Region, encompassing businesses in Turkey, the Caucases, Central Asia and Belarus, prior to taking over as Managing Director, Colgate-Palmolive India in June 2006. He has a wealth of experience with the Corporation and considerable expertise in emerging markets.