PETRONAS Dagangan announces new CEO and managing director effective June 2018

PETRONAS DaganganBerhad, the domestic marketing arm of Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS), has appointed Dato’ Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Bin Syed Mohamed Tahir as CEO and managing director effective 1 June 2018. He succeeds Datuk Mohd Ibrahimnuddin Mohd Yunus.

Syed Zainal is currently vice president of marketing, downstream business for PETRONAS, as well as the chairman and director of various subsidiaries within the PETRONAS Group.

He began his career as a project engineer with PETRONAS Gas Sdn Bhd in 1987, prior to joining Petroliam Nasional Berhad as senior executive of corporate planning and international business development in 1992. He subsequently joined Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd as senior general manager in 1999. He served as executive director of Perodua Auto Corporation Sdn Bhd in 2002, then as deputy managing director of Perodua in 2005 and then as senior general manager. He served as managing director of Proton Holdings Bhd from 2006 to 4 July 2012.

He later joined Malaysian Trucks and Bus Sdn. Bhd, rose through the ranks to become chief executive officer and moved on to Perodua to become head of production.

He has been a non-independent and non-executive director of PETRONAS Dagangan since 31 July 2017.

He served as an independent non-executive director at RHB Investment Bank Berhad since 6 October 2015.

He served as a director of Proton Holdings Bhd. from 1 January 2006 to 4 July 2012.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland in the United States in 1985.