Dato’ Sri Idris Jala to be keynote speaker at Curtin Sarawak’s international symposium on management education

Miri – 1 October 2014 – Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Chief Executive Officer of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), Senator Dato’ Sri Idris Jala, will deliver the keynote address on the opening session of the International Symposium on Management Education: Towards Achieving Global Standards and Recognition at Grand Palace Hotel tomorrow.

The opening session, which will include a welcoming dinner for the over 100 delegates, will be followed by subsequent sessions on Friday in The Auditorium, Curtin Sarawak campus. The delegates will comprise academics from Curtin Sarawak, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, University of Pune, India and other higher learning institutions in East Malaysia, as well as management consultants from industry.

Highlights on the second day will include a keynote address by Dr. Sachin Vernakar, Dean of the Faculty of Management, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, and a special address by Dr. Eknath B. Khedkar, Dean of the Faculty of Management, University of Pune.

Dato’ Sri Idris Jala was appointed Minister in Prime Minister’s Office and Chief Executive Officer of PEMANDU, the unit tasked with transforming the social and economic performance of Malaysia with the view of Malaysia achieving developed and high income status by 2020, on 1 September 2009.

In his current role, he leads the development of two main thrusts in the Malaysia’s transformation agenda – the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

Over the course of the transformation programmes, Dato’ Sri Idris has been instrumental in enlisting the participation of private and public sectors, non-government organisations and civil society in co-creating an environment that sets the roadmap for Malaysia to achieve high-income status.

Currently, he also sits as a member of the panel of advisory experts for the World Bank’s competitive industries practice division.He was previously on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on New Growth Models.

As PEMANDU’s work gained international recognition, BFR (Big Fast Results) Institute was created to assist other countries in replicating PEMANDU’s methodology globally. Through BFR Institute, Dato’ Sri Idris now advises countries such as Tanzania, South Africa and the state of Maharashtra in India in transforming their governments and improving the implementation mechanism for better delivery of results for both the country and people.

Prior to joining PEMANDU, he was the Managing Director and CEO of Malaysia Airlines. His appointment in December 2005 came in the aftermath of the company’s biggest financial loss in its corporate history. In February 2006, he announced the airline’s Business Turnaround Plan (BTP 1). From a nine-month loss of USD400 million in 2005, he succeeded in turning around the company in less than two years, with the airline achieving a record profit of USD260 million in 2007.

Building upon its successful BTP 1, he then announced Malaysia Airlines’ five-year Business Transformation Plan (BTP 2) in January 2008. The BTP 2 featured bold profit targets of up to USD630-USD950 million per annum to be achieved in 2012, by transforming the company into the World’s Five-Star Value Carrier, while offering Five-Star products and services at affordable prices. Malaysia Airlines posted 10 consecutive quarterly profits during his tenure as CEO (2006 and 2008).

Dato’ Sri Idris had also spent 23 years at Shell, where he held several senior management positions. He was appointed Managing Director, Shell MDS (Malaysia) and Vice President, Shell Malaysia Gas & Power (Malaysia) between 2002 and 2005, where he successfully led the business turnaround of Shell MDS, the first Gas-to-Liquids commercial plant in the world and also the sole supplier of clean diesel fuel for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He was also the Vice President for Retail Marketing, in London from 2000 to 2002.

Due to his acknowledged experience, Idris was also Vice President, Business Development Consultancy where he led a high-level team of internal consultants on radical business improvement projects, and revamped the Shell global retail business model in order to achieve profitable growth. He also helmed the Managing Director role at Shell Sri Lanka from 1998 to 2000, where he helped to shape the turnaround of Shell’s LPG business in Sri Lanka.

Dato’ Sri Idris’ latest accolade is from Bloomberg, which lists him in the Bloomberg Markets 50 Most Influential List for his role in Malaysia’s ongoing transformation.

“We are very privileged to have such a distinguished public figure as Senator Dato’ Sri Idris speak at our symposium. I am sure he will be an inspiration to all the delegates attending,” says Associate Professor Pauline Ho, Acting Dean of the School of Business.

The symposium is an initiative by Curtin Sarawak’s School of Business to provide a forum for academics and researchers to exchange ideas and discuss developments in all aspects of teaching and learning in business and management education. It will also be an opportunity for participants to establish future collaborations, particularly in research and development. It is being organised in collaboration with the Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development (IMED) – Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Dato’ Sri Idris Jala to be keynote speaker at Curtin Sarawak’s international symposium on management education – page 4

Curtin Sarawak’s School of Business is one of the leading providers of business education in the region. It offers a comprehensive range of courses in commerce, business administration and arts (mass communication), as well postgraduate courses in project management, policy sciences and business. Its industry connections ensure the courses are aligned with the latest industry trends and effectively serve the needs of both its students and companies they will work for.

For further details on the symposium, contact the Symposium Secretariat at +60 85 443 939 or email symposium2014@curtin.edu.my.

Dato’ Sri Idris Jala to deliver keynote address in opening session of symposium.