Kuala Lumpur, 24 June 2013 - Dato' Abdul Ghani Othman has been appointed as a director and the new Chairman of Sime Darby Berhad from 1 July 2013, replacing Acting Chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman.

Dato' Abdul Ghani, 66, the former Chief Minister of Johor, will serve as an Independent & Non-Executive Director of Sime Darby. Tan Sri Samsudin meanwhile, has been redesignated as a Non Independent & Non Executive Director of Sime Darby.

Tan Sri Samsudin Osman was appointed Acting Chairman of Sime Darby following the retirement of Tun Musa Hitam as Chairman at the Annual General Meeting held on 8 November 2012.

A Colombo Plan scholar, Dato' Abdul Ghani pursued his undergraduate studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics (Hons). Dato' Abdul Ghani subsequently obtained a Master's Degree in Political Economics from the University of Queensland, Australia.

He began his career in 1974 as a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, University of Malaya and later served as the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya from 1980 to 1984.

He was appointed a Member of the Senate in December 1984 and subsequently was elected Member of Parliament for Ledang in August 1986. He was appointed the Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Post in May 1987 and became the Deputy Minister of Finance in 1990. He was appointed Minister of Youth and Sports in December 1993 until March 1995 when he became the Chief Minister of Johor until May 2013.

Sime Darby President and Group Chief Executive Tan Sri Dato' Mohd Bakke Salleh welcomed Dato' Abdul Ghani's appointment, saying it would augur well for the multinational group.

“Dato' Abdul Ghani brings with him a wealth of experience and is well-known for his exemplary and distinguished accomplishments in the field of academia at University Malaya. Besides that, he was well regarded as a very effective and respected member of the government administration.

“Sime Darby is honoured to have him onboard and we are confident he would help contribute towards efforts to steer the company to greater heights and through challenging times ahead,” Bakke added.