In a ceremony held on November 29th at the RISI’s Second Latin American Pulp and Paper Conference, José Luciano Penido, Chief Executive of Votorantim Celulose e Papel (VCP), won the Latin American CEO Of The Year Award. Also honored were Raymond Royer from Domtar, in North America, and Jussi Pesonen of UPM, in Europe.

It is the first time that RISI, the largest international information agency for the forestry products industry, has chosen a representative from Latin America, which underscores the work done by Penido who, in giving thanks, dedicated the award to his partners in VCP: “I want to share this honor with my senior administrative colleagues at VCP, because we are a team, with a clear vision on where we want to get to.”

Leadership, vision, and business strategy were some of the criteria used in evaluating the candidates. Besides the award ceremony, Penido took part in a debate with other CEOs from the pulp and paper industry.