Philippe Varin has been elected chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), a global business organisation representing over 45 million businesses.

Varin succeeds Maria Fernanda Garza, who now becomes ICC's honorary chairperson, after a unanimous vote of the organisation's 90-plus national committees at its global headquarters in Paris recently, ICC Bangladesh said in a press release.

Varin is an operating partner of the GVP Climate Investment Fund and chairman of the C'Possible partnership to enhance vocational education opportunities in France.

He served as group executive vice-president for aluminum at Pechiney before becoming chief executive officer of Corus in 2003, overseeing its acquisition by Tata in 2007.

Varin also chaired PSA Peugeot Citroen from 2009 to 2014 and Areva and Orano until 2020.

He led France Industrie and the Conseil National de l'Industrie from 2017 to 2021, chaired Suez from 2020 to 2022 and has co-chaired the World Materials Forum since 2015.

Upon his election Varin said: "I am deeply conscious that the founding mission of the International Chamber of Commerce – to promote peace and prosperity through global trade – is of immense strategic importance and a challenge in a world that is increasingly characterised by conflicts and intense geoeconomic competition."

He has set out a five-pillar strategy for his two-year tenure as ICC chairman, encompassing international trade, the rule of law, climate action, trade digitalisation and multilateral cooperation.

The ICC World Council also elected three prominent business leaders in its chairmanship: India's Harsh Pati Singhania (first-vice chairman), Indonesia's Shinta Kamdani (vice-chairman), and Kenya's Patrick Obath (vice-chairman).