Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg
KUCHING: The Sarawak sovereign wealth future fund is expected to be operational on Jan 1, 2024.
Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the date was set following the appointment of nine members to the wealth fund’s board of guardians and having put in place all the structural and governance frameworks.
“The wealth fund will start with an initial appropriation from the state of RM8bil and subsequently will receive scheduled annual appropriation.
“It is estimated to grow sustainably with no withdrawal except for any potential critical event that occurs or when the fund performs better than targeted,” he added.
The nine members to the board of guardians is led by former Federal Court judge Tan Sri Sulong Matjeraie as its chairman.
Abang Johari said the appointees, who comprise experts and professionals in the fields of finance, investment, legal and governance, had their appointments approved by the Sarawak State Cabinet on July 27.
They will serve a three-year term.
“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,” he added when announcing the appointees last week.
The fund’s key objective is to safeguard and invest monies in the fund for its sustainable growth and maximum return in the interest of Sarawak and the future generations of Sarawakians.
Sulong has more than 30 years of legal and judicial experience. Prior to his career in the judiciary, he had served the Sarawak government for 17 years in various leadership capacities.
Presently, he is Universiti Malaysia Sarawak board chairman and he also holds directorships in several public listed companies. The other appointees include Tan Sri Leonard Linggi Jugah (Linar Group chairman, Tun Jugah Foundation and Dayak Cultural Foundation chairman and managing trustee), Tan Sri Ahmad Nizam Salleh (former Petroliam Nasional Bhd or PETRONAS chairman and current chairman of KLCC Group and Pelaburan Hartanah Bhd), Datuk Iain John Lo (former chairman of Shell Malaysia Ltd and presently a director at RHB Bank Bhd, RHB Investment Bank Bhd and Digi Tele-communications) and Grainne Dooley who has experience in investment and fund management.
Presently, she has non-executive board roles in fund management companies, including Interactive Brokers (Ireland), Haven Green Investment Management and Forestay Capital II.
Another appointee is Mohsen Fahmi. His last posting was with Pacific Investment Management Co LLC US as an investment committee member who was involved in setting investment strategies for the firm’s US$2 trillion (RM9.3 trillion) worth of assets.The other appointees include Datuk Soedirman Aini has served the Sarawak government for 24 years and 13 years with PETRONAS and is presently Permodalan Nasional Bhd director, Datuk Seri Talat Mahmood Abd Rashid (Sarawak state Attorney General) and Datuk Seri Dr Wan Lizozman Wan Omar (Sarawak state financial secretary).
Abang Johari said the wealth fund would subscribe to international best practices that 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 funds around the world.
GAPP advocates the principles of transparency, accountability, good governance structure and sound investment. The principles are taken up and institutionalised in the establishment of the fund.
