Mohd Bakke to bring vast experience to palm oil industry
KUALA LUMPUR: The appointment of Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh, 64, as the new chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is expected to benefit the palm oil industry tremendously, given his vast experience, Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd dealer, David Ng said.
Mohd Bakke would bring with him profound knowledge of the industry which would be of great advantage to the industry especially at a time when it is facing many challenges like rising inventories, declining prices and subdued exports.
A statement from MPOB yesterday announced Bakke’s appointment as chairman for a two-year term, effective July 31, 2018.
“He had served many plantation companies including that of president and group chief executive of Sime Darby Bhd,” he said, adding that Mohd Bakke was responsible for overseeing the core divisions within the group which included plantation, property, industrial, motor and logistics.
Under his tenure with the conglomerate, Sime Darby beat its key performance indicator target by 11% as net profit rose to RM2.44bil for the financial year ended June 30 2017, from the targeted RM2.2bil.
Mohd Bakke also witnessed the company’s plantation and property businesses being listed separately on Bursa Malaysia last November.
Prior to joining Sime Darby, he was the group managing director of Felda Holdings Bhd and subsequently appointed the Group president and chief executive officer of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd in January 2009.
Meanwhile, asked to comment on Malaysia’s plan to follow Indonesia’s initiative to expand the 20% biodiesel mandate, Ng said Malaysia was pushing for the B10 programme (a blend of 10% palm methyl ester and 90% petroleum diesel).
Recently, the Indonesian government announced plans to make the use of biodiesel blended fuels mandatory for vehicles and heavy machinery beginning Sept 1, a move to save billions of US dollars in diesel imports.
“Malaysia’s demand for biodiesel is still weak, but as long as there is incentive for users to use biodiesel, I think it will be fine but currently we don’t see that happening.
“We can’t really compare Malaysia with Indonesia which has a population of 261 million. Their diesel consumption within the automotive industry will definitely be higher,” he added.
Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok Suh Sim was also reported as saying that her ministry was conducting dialogues with various industries including the automotive sector and petroleum-based companies on enhancing the usage of biodiesel in the country.