KUALA LUMPUR (March 29) : FGV Holdings Bhd has appointed Datuk Dzulkifli Abd Wahab, the former director general of the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), as its new chairman effective April 1.

Dzulkifli, 65, will be replacing Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid, who has resigned to pursue other interests, after helming the position in FGV for three and a half years.

In a Bursa Malaysia filing, the plantation group said Dzulkifli has 35 years of experience in the plantation field. He began his career with Felda in 1977 and went on to assume the post of director-general at the agency for three years from 2009 to 2012.

“During his tenure as the director general of Felda, Datuk 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. 

“He was also involved in top-level decision-making on investing Felda funds into its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associate companies,” it said.
 
Dzulkifli was later appointed as an agricultural attaché at the Embassy of Malaysia in Rome, Italy.

“Whilst being the representative for Malaysia, he has represented Malaysia in 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," said FGV.