1 April 2021, KUALA LUMPUR (New Straights Time) : FGV Holdings Bhd has appointed Datuk Dzulkifli Abd Wahab as its chairman effective from today.

The crude palm oil producer said Dzulkifli has 35 years of experience in the plantation field, where he began his career with Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) in 1977.

He was appointed as Felda director general in 2009 for three years until 2012.

FGV group chief executive officer Datuk Haris Fadzilah Hassan said the company would be able to continue its BP21 transformation programme and achieve greater heights under Dzulkifli's leadership and extensive experience.

The programme was the group's strategic objectives, formulated for its business plan between 2019 and 2021 to guide FGV in implementing value-adding activities to maximise shareholder returns.

"On behalf of the group, I would like to express our deepest appreciation to Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid for his service as chairman from September 8, 2017 until March 31, 2021," Haris Fadzilah said in a statement today.

At Felda, Dzulkifli, 65, had overseen over 450,000 hectares of plantation consisting of palm oil and rubber and executed a myriad of action plans to continuously drive the socio-economic values of 112,635 settlers and their families.

He was also involved in top-level decision-making on investing Felda's funds into its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associate companies.

Dzulkifli was later appointed as an agricultural attaché at the Malaysian embassy in Rome, Italy.

He also represented the country in the Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Food Programme and International Finance Agricultural Development, United Nations.

Dzulkifli is currently a member of think tank Group National Association of Smallholders Malaysia and a consultant/head of energy and resources industry at Evant & Co.