KUALA LUMPUR: InvestKL pioneer, Datuk Zainal Amanshah will step down from his position as chief executive CEO when his contract ends on July 10, 2019. 

A statement from the  investment promotion agency on Thursday said Zainal was appointed the first CEO in 2011 and will have served a full eight year term. He leaves to pursue opportunities within the private sector, it said.

“Zainal has been instrumental in setting the dynamic course of the agency. During his tenure, InvestKL had successfully attracted 80 multinational corporations (MNCs) as of May 31, 2019, bringing in a total of committed and approved investments of RM12bil into Greater Kuala Lumpur,” it said. 

These investments created more than 12,000 high skilled regional job opportunities for Malaysians. 

He said Malaysia is in a position of strength with its business friendly environment and resources to attract high value, high skilled and innovation-led investments. 

“Despite the global economic volatility amid the US and China trade tensions, among others, the InvestKL investment pipeline remains resilient. 

“We continue to see healthy interest from the US, European, Chinese and Japanese MNCs to set up regional services and innovation hubs in Malaysia. These companies come from our targeted sectors which include smart technologies, consumer technologies, e-commerce, medical devices, industrial automation as well as energy and renewables,” Zainal said. 

InvestKL Chairman Datuk Seri Michael Yam announced in the statement that Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli will be the acting CEO role from July 1.

“Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli, who is currently InvestKL’s Director of Investor Relations for the European Region, has been with the agency since 2012. In his current role, he works to identify, facilitate, and develop solutions for foreign MNCs to locate their regional hubs in Greater KL and Malaysia. 

“Prior to InvestKL, Azmi has over 16 years’ experience in leadership and management positions spanning commercial, business transformation and business operations with MISC Bhd. He participated in MISC’s business transformation initiatives and was part of a leadership team to re-engineer, develop and commission a global ICT system throughout MISC offices globally,” InvestKL said. 

Azmi holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Marketing) from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, US.