Fahad Qadir, Director Public Affairs and Communications of Coca-Cola Pakistan, has been featured as one of 40 young professionals under the age of 40 from all across the Asia-Pacific region for 2019 “40 under 40” list of Asia Pacific’s next generation of leadership.

The list of the men 40 was issued by UK’s largest independently owned publishing group, Campaign Asia-Pacific. Qadir becomes the first Pakistani to be in the list.

The press release from the publishing group stated,

“Like the bubbles in a carbonated drink, Fahad Qadir is rising fast.”

“Handpicked by top brass at Coca-Cola Pakistan in 2007 to join the company, Qadir started out as the manager of public affairs and communications and was promoted a few years later to his current position as director of the same function. Now, he leads stakeholder engagement on an ongoing basis with the government, media, social groups, customers and partners,” added the statement.

1500 nominations were received to Campaign Asia-Pacific received from which Qaidir was chosen as one of the ‘brightest and high-achieving’ marketing professionals.

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“Managing corporate and brand public strategies, the 36-year old is also heading the company’s CSR portfolio. His focus is on water replenishment, women empowerment, and waste management. In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, Coca-Cola Pakistan has become water positive, putting back more water into nature than it uses in its business. Qadir is also pushing to establish an industry association to find sustainable solutions for the management of plastic waste, especially PET bottles.”

The statement added,

“With his selection in 2019 ‘40 Under 40’ list, Fahad not only brings pride to The Coca-Cola Company but also to Pakistan.”

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Along with Qadir, the other notable winners were Ian Loon (Managing Director, Starcom, Singapore), Nicola Eliot (Director BBC Storyworks APAC, BBC Global News Ltd, Singapore) and Jenny Gao (Vice President Strategy & Brand Planning, Ogilvy, China).