PUTRAJAYA: Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar has been appointed as the new chairman of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) effective Aug 1.

The appointment was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a statement this morning.

Najib described Wahid, a former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, as a qualified accountant, who once helmed Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), a company under the portfolio of PNB, after spearheading Telekom Malaysia’s transformation.

Wahid also headed the rehabilitation process of UEM Group. “During his term in the Prime Minister’s Department, Wahid was responsible for overseeing the Economic Planning Unit, Public Private Partnership Unit (UKAS), Statistics Department Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas), Talent Corporation Malaysia (TalentCorp), Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju) and Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputera,” he said.

Najib also paid tribute to the contributions made by outgoing PNB chairman Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, whom since 1996 had driven the company as one of the leading investment institutions in the country.

The prime minister said that under Sarji’s leadership, PNB had achieved many successes in executing the government’s mandates by improving the economic level of the Bumiputera.

He said Sarji had also contributed towards the growth and prosperity for the benefit of all Malaysians.

“I hope he (Sarji) will continue to share his experience and to help in nation-building efforts,” he said.

Wahid was appointed as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Economic Planning in 2013.

Wahid’s term as a senator ended earlier in June.

Prior to that, he was president and CEO of Maybank.

-NST