Fahad Qadir becomes first Pakistani to feature on Asia Pacific’s ‘40 under 40’ list

Qadir is the director of public affairs and communications at Coca-Cola Pakistan

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

Qadir is the first Pakistani who made it to the prestigious listing. The list was issued by Campaign Asia- Pacific, UK’s largest independently owned publishing group.

“Like the bubbles in a carbonated drink, Fahad Qadir is rising fast," said the press release from the publishing group.

“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.

The listing has become more noteworthy as there were twice the entries as compared to last year which included various kinds of marketing and communications professionals. Campaign Asia-Pacific received about 1500 nominations from which Qaidir was chosen as one of the ‘brightest and high-achieving’ marketing professionals.



“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.”

Other notable winners along with Qadir 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).

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