KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid has been appointed as the interim chairman of telecommunications giant Axiata Group Bhd.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia this evening, Axiata said that Ghazzali, 72, its senior independent non-executive director will take on the role with effect from today.

Ghazzali has served on Axiata’s board for over 10 years as an independent non-executive director. He is currently chairman of the group’s two South Asian subsidiaries, Robi Axiata Ltd in Bangladesh and Ncell Private Ltd in Nepal.

He is also currently serving as chairman of the Axiata Foundation, an independent organisation set up to administer and govern the Axiata Young Talent Programme — the group’s flagship corporate responsibility programme with a commitment of RM100 million over 10 years and a focus on developing talent and nurturing future chief executive officers.

Ghazzali had made his career as a diplomat since 1971 and became the ambassador of Malaysia to USA in March 1999. Over the years, his overseas appointments have included postings to Austria, Germany, Hong Kong, Thailand, UK, Zimbabwe and the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations in New York, USA.

His last position before his retirement in September 2010 was as Ambassador-at-large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia to which he was appointed in 2006.

Axiata president and group CEO Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim welcomed Ghazali’s appointment as interim chairman, to ensure smooth succession and continuity at the board level.

“Tan Sri Ghazzali is a pioneer member of the board since March 2008. Over the last 10 years, his unrelenting dedication to his duties as an independent non-executive director representing the interests of minority shareholders ensured the group always upheld the highest levels of governance and transparencies.

At the same time, the group has also benefited from his broad corporate and international experience in executing his role as chairman at Robi and Ncell, two of our strong performing mobile operations,” he said.

Ghazzali replaces Tan Sri Azman Hj Mokhtar, who resigned as Axiata chairman on Aug 3. This follows his resignation as managing director of Khazanah Nasional Bhd — a position which he held for 14 years.

Khazanah is the largest shareholder of Axiata with a 37% stake.