AFAA re-elects Pradeep Guha as chairman for four years

The general body of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) has unanimously re-elected Pradeep Guha, who represents the Advertising Council of India, as chairman of the executive committee. Guha, who is also managing director, 9X Media, will chair the committee for four years as AFAA has extended the tenure of the executive committee chairman from two to four years.

The new four-person committee consists of Bharat Avalani, regional IBC director, Asia, Africa, West Asia and Turkey, Unilever; Anthony Kang, president, Association of Accredited Advertising Agents, Singapore; Soon Dong Lee, president, Korea Federation of Advertising Associations; and Ramesh Narayan, who represents the Advertising Council of India.

Talking about the challenges and achievements during his last tenure, Guha tells afaqs!, "The biggest challenge in the last two years has been the admission of China. An Asian federation without China does not make sense and it needed a lot of manoeuvring to get China on board. However, we expect the country to join the organisation in the next few months."

Meanwhile, the new committee is expected to meet in Bali in May to set the agenda for the organisation for the next four years.

AFAA is well known in the Asian region for the biennial AFAA AdAsia Congress organised by its members. It has also helped incubate the popular AdFest held annually in Pattaya, and the Asia Pacific Media Forum held biennially in Bali, Indonesia.

Founded in 1978, AFAA has representations in 15 Asian nations (Japan, Korea, Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and the UAE). Its primary objectives are to unify all Asian associations involved in the various aspects of advertising; upgrade the standards, ethics and practices of advertising; and bring about a meaningful contribution from advertising activities to both regional and national socio-economic development.