Procter&GambleCEO

New Procter & Gamble Co. chief Bob McDonald sees a brighter future for the 172-year-old company through selling more diapers, detergent and shampoo in places like India and Africa.

With ambitious plans to double sales and streamline the world’s largest consumer products company, whose sales and earnings growth have slowed during the recession, McDonald is to move from chief operating officer to chief executive in three weeks.

“We’re going to focus even more on winning with consumers in emerging markets,” McDonald said in a conference call Wednesday shortly after P&G; announced he would succeed A.G. Lafley on July 1. “We’re serving about 3.5 billion people of nearly 7 billion people on the planet today, and I’m confident we can reach at least another billion or more in the decade ahead.”

Lafley will stay on as a full-time chairman and advisor to McDonald after nine years as CEO of the maker of Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste and Olay skin cream.

Lafley turns 62 on Saturday, while McDonald will be 56 later this month.

The move had been expected on Wall Street. P&G; shares were down 35 cents, or 0.7%, to $52.06 in afternoon trading. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of $43.93 to $73.57.

P&G;’s board praised McDonald in a statement as “the most broadly and globally experienced CEO in P&G; history.”

McDonald has lived and worked in Europe, Canada and Asia. He went to the Philippines in 1991 as general manager and later led P&G;’s Asian operations from Japan.