A French national with a deep-seated belief in the advantages of a multilateral trading system, has been appointed Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
Guy Sebban, an ardent supporter of the global economy, assumed the leadership of the world business organization on 1 July 2005. His appointment comes at a time when many of his countrymen are still debating the merits of globalization.
Mr Sebban was officially appointed at ICC's recent World Council meeting, which brought together business members from around the world. The World Council met on the occasion of ICC's 4th World Chambers Congress in Durban.
In accepting his new position Mr Sebban stressed that he shares all the values of ICC:
"I am deeply convinced that a rules-based, multilateral trading system is really necessary and has to be promoted for a better world," he said.
Mr Sebban promised to work to advance ICC's primary goals of promoting multilateral, rules-based trade and entrepreneurship.
Mr Sebban has been closely involved with ICC members for some years, assisting Jean-Rene Fourtou during his Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship of ICC. He has had a wide and varied international experience on both the operational and strategic aspects of business, most recently as a Senior Advisor at Vivendi Universal. Prior to that, he served as the head of Rhone Poulenc (and then Aventis) Brussels, in charge of relations with EU institutions.
About ICC
The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its thousands of member companies in over 130 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise.
ICC speaks for world business whenever governments make decisions that crucially affect corporate strategies and the bottom line.
A world network of national committees keeps the ICC International Secretariat in Paris informed about national and regional business priorities. More than 2000 experts drawn from ICC's member companies feed their knowledge and experience into crafting the ICC stance on specific business issues.
The United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and many other intergovernmental bodies, both international and regional, rely on ICC to provide the views of the international business community.
ICC's advocacy has never been more relevant to the interests of companies everywhere. Equally vital is ICC's role in forging internationally agreed rules and standards that companies adopt voluntarily and can be incorporated in binding contracts.
Foremost of the ICC services that are essential to international b
usiness is the ICC International Court of Arbitration, the world's leading arbitral institution. Another vital service for business is the ICC Commercial Crime Services, engaged in the fight against all types of crime affecting business.