Speaker > Biography

Biography of A. J. Devanesan

As President and Chief Operating Officer of APRIL, A. J. Devanesan leads a multicultural workforce of 22,000 employees of more than 20 nationalities.  He is responsible for driving APRIL’s attainment of its vision: to be one of the largest, best managed, most profitable, and sustainable pulp and paper companies in the world, a preferred supplier to its customers and the preferred company to its people.

Devanesan’s extensive career spans over 22 years of which 12 years were in senior positions in RMG International and its affiliates, Indorayon and PEC-Tech.  Key accomplishments include the greenfield construction of APRIL’s pulp mills and paper mill in Riau, Indonesia as well as a paper mill in Changshu, China.  The APRIL’s pulp mills in Riau are the world’s largest single line pulp mills and regarded by industry leaders as world-class.

Prior to joining APRIL, Devanesan was Chief Operating Officer of RGM International’s e-Business Initiative and he was also Pec-Tech Group’s Vice President & Technical Director responsible for the construction of APRIL’s assets.

Devanesan holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and is a Fellow of the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. He is an active member of professional organizations in the engineering and pulp and paper industries.