Chile: Cementos Bío Bío has appointed Iñaki Otegui as its new CEO, effective 1 August 2013. Otegui replaces Jorge Matus, who has resigned after 39 years with the company.

Germany: Minister Eveline Lemke has presented a medal for outstanding commitment to the economy in Rhineland-Palatinate to Irene Scheidweiler, one of the joint founders of Vecoplan. Lemke described Scheidweiler as a model for younger generations.

Scheidweiler founded the recycling technology firm based in Bad Merienberg in 1969, when she was aged 22. In 1995 Vecoplan AG became a subsidiary of MAX Automation AG of Dusseldorf. Today the company employs more than 400 staff at locations in Germany, the US, UK, Austria and Spain.

Ireland: Donald A McGovern, Jr will join the board of CRH as a non-executive director effective from 1 July 2013.

McGovern, a US national aged 62 years, is currently Vice Chairman for Global Assurance at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a position he has held since July 2008. McGovern will retire from PwC on 30 June 2013, following a 39 year career with the firm, during which time he directed the US firm's services for a number of large public company clients. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and holds a Master's Degree in Business.

Dominican Republic: The Dominican Association of Cement Producers (Adocem) swore in Carlos Gonzalez as its president for 2013 – 2014. Gonzalez, who is also president of Cemex in the country, joins Gabriel Ballestas of Cementos Argos as treasurer and Jose Caceres of Cementos Cibao as secretary.