Shahril leaving EPF in a strong position

Fund is well known for governance, integrity and service standards

KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) today is in an extremely strong position and is well known for its governance, integrity and service standards, said chief executive officer Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan.

Shahril, who was recently appointed as Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director, will continue to lead EPF until he reports for duty at the sovereign wealth fund on Aug 20, 2018.

“I’m glad to leave EPF in such a great state. It is a fantastic organisation. Chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman and the management team after me will carry on the great work.

“Five years from now, the EPF will be something much better than what I’m leaving behind,” he told reporters after the launch of the International Social Security Conference (ISSC) 2018: A Better Tomorrow.

The two-day conference, which began yesterday, was officiated at by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Incoming CEO Tunku Alizakri Raja Muhammad Alias said EPF always had a very dynamic five-year rolling plan.

“If I may say so, as a person that has been doing strategy for the past 25 years, it’s one of the best that I have ever seen.

“It was not developed only by one person. Our strategy and way forward were developed as a team. The driver might be different but the destination is still the same,” he said.

Chairman Tan Sri Samsuddin Osman said the EPF had not had any indication or received any official communication on the proposed merger between the fund and the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

“To be honest, we haven’t received anything apart from what we have read in the press.

“So far, there has been no official communication as far as we are concerned. We have not received any indication anyway from our own bosses,” he said.

The two entities are governed by two sepa- rate ministries – the EPF is under the purview of the Finance Ministry, while Socso falls under the Human Resources Ministry.

Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran earlier said the ministry is preparing a Cabinet paper on whether EPF and Socso, which had respective funds of RM800bil and RM26bil as of last year, could be merged into a single entity. — Bernama