International budget airline AirAsia has just appointed Filipino executive Raymund Cauilan as its new regional chief financial officer (CFO) and regional head for tax, compliance, and procurement at its AirAsia Super App.
Photo from AirAsia
The 42-year-old Berja is the first Filipino to hold the position of CFO at the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based company. He will be responsible for the financial management of the AirAsia Super App across all of its markets, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, as well as its expansion into Vietnam, Singapore, and South Korea, and the provision of technical support in India.
“We at airasia are not strangers to facing giants. Two decades ago, we started disrupting the Asean aviation market with our low fares and value-for-money service. Today, our goal is to disrupt the tech disruptors and truly bring more value into the lives of the millions of people in the region through our suite of everyday services,” Berja said.
Some 50 million users are currently on the AirAsia Super App, which they use to make reservations for flights, hotels, experiences, transfers by land and sea, rides, food deliveries, and online shopping, among other services.
Berja will also continue with his role as managing director and country head of AirAsia Super App Philippines, which has reached nearly 1 million monthly active users to date. AirAsia Super App Philippines is on a momentum of business growth quarter-on-quarter, netting a gross book value of 86 percent, with net revenues rising by 98 percent and transaction count increasing by 174 percent.
A native of Piat and Solana, Cagayan from the northern part of the Philippines, Berja grew up in the public market assisting his mother in their carinderia and sometimes working as a street vendor during fiestas and important occasions in his hometown. His early exposure to labor encouraged Berja to strive harder to excel in life.
In his teenage years, Berja took his high school from University of St. Louis of Tuguegarao and then was enlisted as a cadet in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), but later on decided to pursue management in Philippine School of Business Administration as a working student.
Berja holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration which he earned from both the Ateneo de Manila University Graduate School of Business and Regis University in the United States. He is taking his PhD in Business Leadership Studies in Ateneo De Manila University on leave of absence status.
He also has a Diploma in Financial Technology from Saïd Business School – University of Oxford. Furthermore, Berja has secured certifications from here and abroad, being a Certified Management Accountant and a Certified Financial Consultant with the Institute of Certified Management Accountant of Australia and the Institute of Certified Financial Consultants of Canada.
Prior to joining AirAsia Philippines as its CFO in 2019, Berja has been at the helm of finance units from different industries for 15 years. These include large domestic corporations and other multinational companies such as entertainment giant ABS-CBN Corporation, largest fast food chain Jollibee Foods Corporation, telco PLDT Global Corporation and fintech company Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt).
