EPF’s Shahril Ridza gets Khazanah top job

Azman, Khazanah’s former CEO, has also stepped down as Axiata chairman

By P PREM KUMAR & FARA AISYAH / Pic By ISMAIL CHE RUS

Employees Provident Fund (EPF) CEO Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan (picture) Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar has been appointed as Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s new MD, replacing Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar who tendered his resignation last week.

Shahril Ridza will report for duty on Aug 20 at Khazanah’s headquarters in Tower 2 of the Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur (KL).

At the announcement of Shahril Ridza’s appointment last Friday, Khazanah also welcomed its new chairman Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and new members of the board, whose appointments were announced by the Prime Minister’s Office on July 30, 2018.

The sovereign state fund also expressed its appreciation to the previous members of the board and former MD Azman for their services and contributions to Khazanah.

Shahril Ridza, 48, hadserved as EPF’s deputy CEO before he was promoted to CEO in 2013.

Prior to working at the pension fund, he was MD of Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB), where he was responsible for developing KL Sentral into one of the country’s main commercial transportation hub.

Shahril Ridza also served at Pengurusan Danahar ta Nasional Bhd and was involved in corporate recovery and credit restructuring following the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.

Meanwhile, Azman has also stepped down as Axiata Group Bhd’s non- independent non-executive chairman. The telco said during Azman’s decade tenure, its customer base rose from 40 million to close to 350 million, with presence in 11 countries. Axiata’s revenue more than doubled to RM24 billion during that period.

The group’s market capitalisation has also improved 1.8 times from its initial public offering in 2008 of RM28.3 billion to RM49.6 billion as of end December 2017.

“Axiata could not have attained its leading position within the industry without the guidance, support and encouragement from Azman as our chairman. He was also instrumental in inspiring us to work on our new vision of becoming the new generation digital champion within the next five years,” Axiata president and group CEO Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim said in a statement last Friday.

“On behalf of the board, management and employees of Axiata across the region, and I personally, express our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to Azman for his 10 years of chairmanship and leadership of the group,” he added.