PUTRAJAYA – The appointment of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) chief Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan as finance minister II will ensure stronger professionalism and freedom from political pressure in the ministry, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.
Anwar, who remains finance minister in the cabinet reshuffle he announced earlier today, said Amir’s track record was the reason for his appointment.
“The ministry – other than being headed by me – must have a strong professional team to ensure that we are on the right track and focus on the economy, (while not being) deflected by political pressures.
“He (Amir) has shown enough competence and ability, and has managed the affairs of EPF in a very impressive and satisfactory manner,” Anwar said at a press conference here today to announce the cabinet reshuffle.
Amir, 56, who was sworn in as a senator this morning, joined EPF in March 2021 and led the country’s retirement fund to record a 5.35% dividend last year.
Before that, Amir was Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s CEO from 2019, besides serving in various senior management roles in MISC Bhd, including as president and CEO, and then in Petronas Dagangan Bhd. His career in oil and gas began with Shell and continued with Petronas Lubricants International where he was managing director and CEO, eventually becoming vice-president of lubricants for the Petronas Group.
Amir’s other notable career milestones include Ekuinas, where he served as managing director and CEO of invested company Icon Offshore Bhd, and as CEO of Themed Attractions Resorts and Hotel Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
He is also non-executive chairman of Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd and sits on the boards of Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Sime Darby Oils International Ltd.
With his appointment as finance minister II, he is expected to relinquish these positions.
Amir would not be the first technocrat appointed to the Finance Ministry, as former finance minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who is now Investment, Trade and Industry Minster, had been group chief executive officer and executive director of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.
Anwar today said his cabinet reshuffle and creation of two new ministries was in response to several challenges identified after one year of administering the government.
These challenges include the economy, cost of living and public welfare, as well as ventures into digitalisation.
As such, the Communications and Digital Ministry has been split into two.
Anwar said this was in response to criticism of the government for being ineffective in communicating its policies.
Likewise, the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry has been split into two, namely, the Energy Transition and Public Utilities Ministry and the Natural Resources and Sustainability Ministry.
“The situation has changed. Not only in past performances, but also changes in economic structure, cost of living issues that must be properly addressed and international acceptance,” Anwar said today.
Anwar said that the reshuffled line-up had received the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s approval and was the outcome of discussion with heads of the government’s main component parties.
The prime minister also said that any further cabinet reshuffling is unlikely for the next four years – or the remainder of the current government’s term – as long as performance is satisfactory, and that the 20% salary reduction, implemented for cabinet members since the government was formed last year, will continue to apply. – December 12, 2023