FGV Holdings Bhd (FGV) would probably have found the right successor to Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid who stepped down after three-and-a-half-years helming the agribusiness conglomerate (from September 8, 2017 until March 31, 2021).
The appointment of a ‘born and breed planter’ Datuk Dzulkifli Abd Wahab as the FGV’s non-independent and non-executive chairman effective today (April 1) cannot be more timely.
After all, Dzulkifli, 65, has amassed 35 years of experience in the plantation field by commencing his career with Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) in 1977.
He was appointed as the Director General (DG) of FELDA in 2009 where he held the position for three years until 2012.
As per his profile in a Bursa Malaysia filing, Dzulkifli oversaw over 450,000 hectares of plantation consisting of palm oil and rubber and executed a myriad of action plans to continuously drive the socio-economic values of 112,635 settlers and their families during his tenure as FELDA’s DG.
More importantly, he was also involved in top-level decision-making on investing FELDA’s funds into its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associate companies.
“We are confident that under Dato’ Dzulkifli’s leadership and extensive experience, FGV will be able to continue its BP21 transformation programme and achieve greater heights,” commented FGV’s Group CEO Datuk Haris Fadzilah Hassan.
Dzulkifli was later appointed as an agricultural attaché at the Embassy of Malaysia in Rome, Italy.
While being the representative for Malaysia, he also represented the country in the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme and International Finance Agricultural Development, United Nations.
He was also appointed and served as a Council Member of FAO, Deputy Chairman for the FAO Asia Group in 2014 and as a Committee Member on Commodity Problems in FAO in 2015.
Dzulkifli is currently a member of the Group National Association of Smallholders Malaysia (NASH) – the think tank group – and also a Consultant/head of energy and resources industry at Evant & Co. – April 1, 2021
