This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on September 12, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Bhd has announced the board of directors’ line-up for its pure plays, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Sime Darby Property Bhd, which will comprise 11 directors on each board upon the listing of the units.

“The new members of the two boards and senior management have the experience and expertise to spearhead the businesses in these challenging times.

“We are confident [that] they will grow the companies into stronger entities to generate sustainable returns for all stakeholders,” said current Sime Darby chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Othman in a statement yesterday.

The announcement of an additional board member for both companies will be made soon, he added.

Abdul Ghani will head Sime Darby Plantation as its chairman, with Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh as executive deputy chairman and managing director (MD).

Other members of Sime Darby Plantation’s board are: Datuk Mohamad Nasir Ab Latif, Datuk Mohd Nizam Zainordin, Zainal Abidin Jamal, Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiran, Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan, Muhammad Lutfi, Datuk Che Abdullah @ Rashidi Che Omar and Tan Ting Min.

Senior management of the plantation pure play consists of: Datuk Franki Anthony Dass as chief adviser and value officer, Renaka Ramachandran as chief financial officer (CFO), Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha as upstream chief operating officer (COO), Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad as downstream COO, Dr Simon Lord as chief sustainability officer, and Dr Harikrishna Kulaveerasingam is the head as research and development.

“Sime Darby Plantation produces nearly a quarter or three million tonnes of the world’s certified sustainable palm oil and all but two of our 63 operating units are certified. We first made our commitment to sustainability in 2007 and we continue to deliver on it,” said Abdul Ghani.

Meanwhile, Sime Darby Property will be chaired by Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, with Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin as MD and Datuk Tong Poh Keow as executive director and CFO.

Other directors of the property unit are: Datuk Rohana Tan Sri Mahmood, Tengku Datuk Seri Ahmad Shah Alhaj ibni Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Alhaj, Datuk Johan Ariffin, Datuk Jaganath Derek Steven Sabapathy, Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar, Datuk Seri Ahmad Johan Mohammad Raslan and Datin Nor Azah Mohamed Razali.

Senior management of Sime Darby Property will be led by Datuk Wan Hashimi Albakri Wan Ahmad Amin Jaffri as COO/chief transformation officer, and Dr Tan Kok Heng as chief executive officer of Sime Darby Real Estate Management and head of property investment.

Also part of the senior management are: Zaharudin Sa’at as senior general manager (GM) for township development, Chong Chee On as senior GM for development services, and Clare Louise Kenny Tipton as chief marketing and sales officer.