Idris Jala to become Heineken Malaysia chairman

Malaysia's economic update 2015 with Idris Jala,. Rep: Erle Martin, Daniel Khoo and Sharidan. News and Business desk.

KUALA LUMPUR: Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala will join Heineken Malaysia Bhd (formerly Guinness Malaysia Bhd) as chairman starting Jan 1, 2017.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the Selangor-based brewer said Idris would succeed Tan Sri Saw Choo Boon who had decided to retire as chairman on Dec 31.

At the request of management, Saw has agreed to continue to support the group as advisor of Heineken Malaysia starting Jan 1, 2017.

Idris, who served as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for six years, is the managing director of the Big Fast Results Institute in addition to helming Pemandu.

“Datuk Seri Idris Jala is a renowned transformation guru in turning around companies’ performance through his big fast results methodology and transformational strategies that are innovative, rigorous and relevant to today’s demands. He has continuously delivered sustainable socio economic reforms which, in 2014, saw Bloomberg place him among the top 10 most influential policy makers in the world,” Heineken Malaysia said.

Prior to his Government stint, Idris was managing director/CEO at Malaysia Airlines (MAS) for three years. He was brought on board to turn around the airline which was in crisis brought about by a prolonged bout of losses from operational inefficiencies.

Before that, he spent 23 years at Shell, rising up the ranks to hold senior positions including vice president (Shell Retail International) and vice president (business development consultancy) based in the UK.