This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 6, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) announced yesterday that Baidzawi Che Mat (pic) has succeeded Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John as the council’s new chief executive officer (CEO), from Monday. This is after Jebasingam became CEO of the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority, it said in a statement.

“As CEO, Baidzawi will be responsible in providing a strategic direction and oversight of ECERDC’s projects and programmes in the East Coast Economic Region (ECER).

“With almost three decades of experience in managing finance and oil and gas operations in Malaysia and internationally, Baidzawi’s leadership and experience make him an ideal fit for ECERDC’s next stage of growth. Baidzawi joined ECERDC in 2016 as general manager of the finance division,” the council said in a statement.

Datuk Ragu Sampasivam, previously general manager of the council’s corporate strategic planning division, is now the chief operating officer (COO).

“Under the stewardship of Baidzawi and Ragu, ECERDC is confident that the region will be able to further accelerate its socio-economic development, through strategic partnerships with the federal government and various state government agencies. This is also in line with the government’s goal to ensure an equitable, inclusive and sustainable growth for Malaysia,” it said.

The ECERDC is a statutory body spearheading the execution and implementation of the ECER Master Plan. It plays a lead role in setting the directions, policies and strategies for the socio-economic development of ECER by promoting and facilitating investments into the region. The ECER region covers Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang states and the Mersing district in Johor.