Duarte Rocha joins the WACO executive board

The WACO System (WACO) has officially elected its new executive board during the independent freight forwarding network’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Athens, Greece. The most notable appointment to the leadership team is Duarte Rocha, the highly experienced Managing Director of Extra Transportes Internacionais Lda, who joins the board following the scheduled retirement of long-serving member Vince Touya.

Rocha brings more than 30 years of deep-rooted experience in international logistics and supply chain management to this vital leadership role. Having initially joined Extra Transportes back in 1993, he has since occupied various senior positions across the business, proving instrumental in the development of the company’s global freight forwarding, logistics, and supply chain solutions. Extra Transportes itself has a remarkably long-standing history with the network, having served proudly as WACO’s exclusive member for Portugal since 1984.

Richard Charles, the Chief Executive Officer of The WACO System, warmly welcomed the new appointment, noting that Rocha is already exceptionally well known and highly regarded throughout the global network for his extensive logistics expertise, sound business judgement, and practical approach to industry challenges. Charles highlighted that Rocha’s induction comes at a truly pivotal juncture for the organisation as it seeks to modernise operations and capture emerging market share across several regions.

Moving forward, the newly elected board will focus heavily on driving strategic growth across Latin America and building a more robust operational presence throughout Africa. Alongside this geographical expansion, a primary objective for the leadership team will be the extensive rollout of advanced digital initiatives and tools. These new digital platforms are specifically designed to streamline communication, thereby making daily collaboration between various global network members faster, clearer, and far easier to manage in an increasingly complex international trading environment.

The transition marks a period of continuity and stability for the alliance, with Touya’s retirement after three years of dedicated service representing the only major change to the executive line-up during this year's general assembly.