KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): Employees Provident Fund (EPF) chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan has been appointed as finance minister II, following a Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday.

The appointment was announced by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the Prime Minister's Office at 11am.

Amir Hamzah was sworn in as a senator in the Dewan Negara earlier on Tuesday.

He is the second technocrat in the Ministry of Finance to have a corporate background, following the footsteps of former finance minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who served as the group chief executive officer and executive director of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd from Feb 27, 2015 to March 9, 2020.

Amir Hamzah joined the EPF — the country's largest pension fund in terms of asset management — as its CEO in March 2021.

Prior to this, he was the president and CEO of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) from April 2019 to February 2021.

Amir Hamzah's career began with Shell Group of Companies, where he served for 10 years in various capacities in Malaysia, Singapore and the UK.

He joined MISC Bhd in 2000, and held several senior management portfolios, before being appointed as its president and CEO in January 2009.

He was later appointed as the managing director and CEO of Petronas Dagangan Bhd in June 2010.

In August 2012, Amir Hamzah joined Petronas Lubricants International as the group MD and CEO, while simultaneously serving as the vice-president for downstream marketing, and subsequently as the VP of lubricants for the Petronas group.

In March 2016, he joined Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) to steer its investee company Icon Offshore Bhd as its MD and CEO, and was later appointed to Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s subsidiary, Themed Attractions Resorts and Hotel Sdn Bhd, as its group CEO, before joining TNB in April 2019.

He is currently the non-executive chairman of Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd, and also sits on the boards of Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Sime Darby Oils International Ltd.

Amir Hamzah holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management (majoring in Finance and Economics) from Syracuse University, New York. 

He also attended the Stanford Executive Programme at Stanford University, and the Corporate Finance Evening Programme at the London Business School.

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