107: Peter Cammaerts, Managing Director, AB InBev, Japan

Peter Cammaerts is currently the Managing Director, AB InBev in Japan. Mr. Cammaerts is originally from Belgium. He studied in Leuven in Belgium, which is still where AB’s headquarters are located. He started working at AB as a student and worked in different positions first as a sales rep where he was visiting stores and ensuring good store execution and then moved up into different positions in Belgium. After 9 years in Belgium, he moved to France before relocating to Japan in 2020 for his current role with AB InBev.   Mr. Cammaerts says he builds trust with his team by showing his effort to learn Japanese and the culture to ensure that he is invested in the team in Japan. He tries to run the company as if it is his own business, which shows ownership to the firm. He also tries to connect with the team by holding 30 minute one on one conversations with all 70 of the staff members. During COVID, these conversations were held on Zoom, and he believes that they helped in building a trusting relationship. Additionally, delivering results was another big factor in establishing credibility. Mr. Cammaerts explains that  if people can see the results, they are more passionate and more likely to work hard on those projects. Similarly, they will not be as passionate if they don’t see the results materializing.   Mr. Cammaerts would advise a new person coming into Japan to try and learn Japanese if they are willing and able to invest the time. Mr. Cammaerts also light-heartedly suggests learning golf before coming to Japan. He explains that many people in Japan have asked him whether he plays golf, and many customers would like to play golf so that is a good way to connect with people. Mr. Cammaerts would also recommend that if anyone is considering relocation to ensure they are happy in their personal life as well. He gives his example of ensuring that his family was happy, and he was able to deliver well in his professional life because his personal life was sorted.