MDEC appoints politician as non-executive chairperson

Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, MDEC newly appointed chairman / Photo credit: Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh’s Facebook

Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh has been appointed as a non-executive chairman at Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) effective April 1.

Syed Ibrahim, who’s the member of parliament for the Ledang constituency, hails from Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the political party led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

MDEC, an agency tasked with executing the country’s digitalization policies, falls under the purview of the Communications and Digital Ministry. Its current minister, Fahmi Fadzil, is also from the same political party.

Syed Ibrahim has “extensive experience” in the telco industry, with a stint at state-owned Telekom Malaysia from 1989 to 2014, according to MDEC statement.

See also: Mapping Malaysia’s government tech entities

This isn’t the first time that a politician has been appointed to the MDEC board.

Syed Ibrahim’s predecessors, Rais Husin and Md Alwi Che Ahmad, were politicians when they were appointed to the post.

Rais is a former supreme council member of of Bersatu, the political party he co-founded with then-prime minister Mahiaddin Yassin. Rais quit the party in 2022.

Md Alwi, on the other hand, is a member of the United Malays National Organization.