Harish Manwani has recently been appointed as Unilever’s Chief Operating Office as part of the organization’s reorganization of the structure to drive future growth.

Manwani will start his new position on September 1 and will take full responsibility for the job role. This is the first time the position has been given to an Indian. Previous chairmen have been a part of Unilever Executive Committee (UEx).

He is currently the President for Hindustan Unilever Ltd. and has become a board member of HILL in 1995 as a director responsible for the Personal Product business.

Unilever is the second largest company for goods in Asia, Africa and Central and Eastern Europe. Globally, Unilever had 2 billion customers and has created four new operating categories. Asia and Africa made up more than 40% of the contributions towards Unilever’s 44 billion euro revenue.

“Unilever now has over half its turnover in the emerging markets, where, over the last 10 years, growth has been close to double digits. We have an opportunity to better support this footprint of the business, to keep our strong momentum, with a more globally aligned country and category organization.” said Unilever CEO, Paul Polman.