Premier: Former Federal Court judge heads nine-member board for Sarawak sovereign fund
KUCHING, Aug 14 — Former Federal Court Judge Tan Sri Sulong Matjeraie has been appointed as chairman of a nine-member Board of Guardians of the Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Future Fund, Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg announced today.
He told a press conference that the appointments of all the board guardians were approved at the State Cabinet meeting on July 27 this year, comprising of experts and professionals in fields of finance, investment, legal and governance.
“The selections on the nomination of the board of guardians are clearly depicted in the Sovereign Wealth Future Fund Ordinance approved by the State Assembly on November 22 last year,” the premier said.
Apart from Sulong, who has more than 30 years of legal and judicial experience and had served the state government for 17 years in various leadership capacities, the others are businessman Tan Sri Leonard Linggi Jugah, KLCC Group of Companies chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Nizam Salleh, former chairman of Shell Malaysia Datuk Iain John Lo, and investment fund manager Grainne Dooley.
The rest are a member of the Investment Advisory Committee for Charitable Foundation Mohsen Fahmi, a director of Permodalan Nasional Berhad Datuk Soedirman Aini while State Attorney-General Datuk Sri Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid and State Financial Secretary Datuk Sri Dr Wan Lizozman Wan Omar will be ex-officio members of the board.
“I believe the diverse and extensive experiences and strong credentials of these distinguished professionals will be invaluable and of great advantage to the fund moving forward in achieving its objectives.
“Upon finalising their appointments, we target the fund to commence in 2024, having put in place all the structural and governance framework,” he said.
The premier said the establishment of the fund will subscribe to the international best practices which include Generally Accepted Principles and Practices (GAPP) for Sovereign Wealth Funds, better known as the “Santiago Principles” which have also been adopted by most of the sovereign wealth funds in the world.
He also said it will join as a member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF).
Abang Johari said the state sovereign wealth fund will start with an initial appropriation from the state of RM8 billion and subsequently will receive scheduled annual appropriation.
