Malaysian Prime Minister appoints Wan Zulkiflee as Malaysia Airlines chairman

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Saturday appointed Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin (pic), the president and chief executive officer of state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), as chairman of Malaysia Airlines (Mas).

Wan Zulkiflee will take over as chairman of the national carrier effective on July 1, Muhyiddin said in a statement from the Prime Minister's Office.

Earlier there were many rumours on Wan Zulkifllee's resignation from Petronas.

It was also unclear on the reason why Wan Zul has decided to leave Petronas where he has spent his entire career since 1983.

Petronas on Saturday morning also did not answer any queries from the media.

In response to a query by Bernama, Petronas said it does no comment on market rumour or speculation, that is consistent with its practices.

But it was confirmed at 4.30pm local time on Saturday that Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz, the executive vice president and group chief financial officer at Petronas, will take over as group CEO of the energy company.

Muhyiddin said during the challenging economic environment, there were several government-linked companies (GLCs) that needed to be further strengthened to face the new global norm.

"Regarding this matter, the government continues to review the leadership of the GLCs to ensure policy coordination and achievement of the nation’s socioeconomic objectives, ” he said.

Muhyiddin expressed his heartfelt appreciation for Wan Zulkiflee’s leadership and contribution over the 37 years that he has served at Petronas.

"He has succeeded in maintaining Petronas as a GLC that has a solid financial position and is governed with excellence.

"Petronas is among our few GLCs that have a strong international credit rating and remains listed as a Global Fortune 500 company, ” he said.

Muhyiddin also expressed hope for MAB to grow and become resilient under Wan Zulkiflee’s leadership.

"I believe that under his leadership, MAB will be able to be restructured and continue to expand as the national airline company which is resilient and has good governance, ” he said. - Reuters/Bernama