International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) has named Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery, president of Bahrain-based Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC), as its new head at the association's annual conference being held in Istanbul.

Jawahery succeeds Mrs Esin Mete, CEO of Tekfen Holding's Agri Division and chairwoman of Toros Agri Industry and Trade, said a statement from the company.

Jawahery's Presidency builds on his years of active membership in the International Fertilizer Industry Association, in particular since joining IFA's Board in 2005. He has held various posts within IFA's board of directors, including chair of the Technical Committee, chair of the Finance Committee, and vice president for Sustainable Development, it added.

He is also chairman and president of the Arab Fertilizer Association for 2015, said the statement.

Jawahery started his career at GPIC in 1983 as an engineer, rising to the position of general manager in 2005. He was appointed president of GPIC in 2011, he holds a doctorate in engineering from London, UK, and he is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers of the UK.

He serves as a member of the Upper House of the Bahrain parliament since 2002, promoting legislation on health, safety and the environment. Jawahery is the only fertiliser industry representative sitting on the Board of the National Safety Council, a non-profit organisation with the mission to save lives by preventing injuries in the workplace.

He also sits on a number of international and regional non-governmental organisation (NGO) boards involved in the same issues, giving GPIC an opportunity to share and build knowledge on sustainable development and responsible engineering practices.

Mete said that Jawahery is one of most experienced executives in the fertiliser industry.

"His passion for the industry and for sustainability and safety, health and environment (SHE) issues are a great asset to the association,” she added.

Jawahery said: “I am honoured and delighted to assume the presidency and will do my utmost to serve all of you and our great industry.”

"I look forward to promoting excellence in SHE matters across our industry and to encouraging all members to avail themselves of the really useful benchmarks that our association offers,” he said.

“Innovation is another important topic for our industry that I would like to see prominently featured in IFA's work programme,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service