KUALA LUMPUR (March 17): The Ministry of Plantation and Commodities has appointed Sime Darby Plantation Bhd's group managing director, Mohamed Helmy Othman Basha, as the new chairman of Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), effective Feb 1.

MPOB's management is confident that Mohamed Helmy's extensive experience in the palm oil sector will help improve the sustainable development of the country’s palm oil sector, said MPOB director general Datuk Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir in a statement Friday.

MPOB is the government agency entrusted to promote and develop national objectives, policies and priorities for the wellbeing of the Malaysian oil palm industry.

Mohamad Helmy joined the Guthrie Group in 1997 and served in a number of senior roles in the group's property and plantation businesses in Malaysia and Indonesia.

He was then appointed the CEO of Highlands & Lowlands Bhd and Guthrie Ropel Bhd, before the merger of Guthrie, Golden Hope Plantations Bhd and Sime Darby Bhd in 2007.

Subsequently, he was appointed Sime Darby Plantation's head of upstream Malaysia in 2007.

He left Sime Darby Plantation in 2013 to pursue his own interests before rejoining the group in 2016, where he served in several key positions before assuming his current position in 2019.

He is currently president of the Malayan Agricultural Producers Association (MAPA), and chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association’s main committee for research and development.

He is also a member of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council’s Board of Trustees, the Incorporated Society of Planters, and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants, besides being a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.