13 March 2017
VODAFONE APPOINTS JOAKIM REITER AS GROUP EXTERNAL AFFAIRS DIRECTOR
Vodafone today announced the appointment of Joakim Reiter as Group External Affairs Director, effective 1 August 2017. Joakim Reiter will join the Group Executive Committee from that date and will report to Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao. He will join Vodafone in April for a transitional period as Director-Designate. He will succeed Matthew Kirk, who has notified Vodafone of his intention to retire. Matthew Kirk will stand down from the Group Executive Committee on 31 July and has agreed thereafter to continue to work with Vodafone in an advisory capacity.
Joakim Reiter was until recently an Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Previous roles include Deputy Director-General of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sweden's Ambassador to the World Trade Organization, Head of the Trade Section within the Swedish Representative Office to the European Union and an EU negotiator with DG TRADE at the European Commission. A Swedish national, Joakim Reiter holds a Masters in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Masters in Political Science from Lund University.
Matthew Kirk joined Vodafone in 2006 after more than 20 years with the UK Diplomatic Service including serving as Ambassador to Finland. He was appointed to the Group Executive Committee in 2009 and established the Group's External Affairs department, managing public affairs, regulatory, communications, corporate security and corporate social responsibility functions worldwide.
Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said: "Joakim has extensive experience of multilateral trade negotiation and diplomatic and political engagement at the highest levels. We are delighted to welcome him to Vodafone. Matthew is a greatly valued and trusted colleague who has made an enormous contribution to the Group. He will stand down from the Group Executive Committee with our professional gratitude and personal friendship."
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About Vodafone Group
Vodafone is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone has mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 49 more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. As of 31 December 2016, Vodafone had 470 million mobile customers and 14.3 million fixed broadband customers. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com.
