Mr Nihal Vijaya Devadas Kaviratne CBE was appointed to the Board on 29 April 2011. Nihal's illustrious career with the Unilever Group spans 40 years during which he held various senior level management positions across Asia, Europe and Latin America. Nihal was instrumental in leading the recovery of Unilever Indonesia after the financial crisis of 1998. He retired from Unilever in March 2005.
He currently serves as President Commissioner of PT. TVS Motor Company Indonesia. Nihal has been Non-Executive Chairman of Akzo Nobel India Limited since 1 October 2010. Nihal has been an Independent Director of StarHub Ltd., since 16 August 2004, SATS Ltd. since July 2010 and of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in India, since 26 July 2005. He serves as an Independent Director at Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
He has attended management development programmes in India, Australia, the UK and the USA, including the Advanced Executive Program conducted by Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and the Advanced Management Program conducted by Harvard Business School. Nihal holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) with a major in Economics from the Bombay University, India.