JOHOR BARU, Dec 27 — Johor Deputy State Secretary (Development) Datuk Badrul Hisham Kassim has been appointed the new chief executive of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) effective January 1, 2022, succeeding Datuk Ismail Ibrahim who is ending his tenure of service after helming the agency for 12 years.

In a statement today, IRDA said the appointment was approved at an IRDA Members of the Authority meeting co-chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad recently.

It said Badrul Hisham, 54, has wide experience in the state’s administration including in the Johor State Economic Planning Unit (UPENJ), land administration and local authorities as well as having involvements with federal government bodies such as the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department and Ministry of Finance.

IRDA said he also has vast knowledge on IRDA and Iskandar Malaysia going back to its inception.

It said Badrul Hisham, a Johor state administrative officer since 1992, was seconded from UPENJ to Khazanah Nasional Bhd for the purpose of planning Iskandar Malaysia’s establishment.

"Since then, he has been directly involved in realising the IRDA Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) 2006-2025 and the IRDA Draft Bill.

"In fact, after returning to UPENJ, he was appointed as the first IRDA state commissioner to carry out coordination with state departments and agencies, including for the approvals required at the state level, a position he held from 2007 to 2014,” IRDA said.

Throughout the period, Badrul Hisham participated in the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) between Malaysia and Singapore on Iskandar Malaysia.

"Besides that, he was a former president of the Johor Bahru Tengah Municipal Council (now known as Iskandar Puteri City Council), one of the local authorities in Iskandar Malaysia,” it said.

Badrol Hisham holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from Staffordshire Polytechnic, England; a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Leicester, England; and a PhD from the University of Glamorgan, Wales, in the field of water management and privatisation.

He also attended executive courses at Harvard Kennedy School in the United States and was appointed adjunct professor by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 2016. — Bernama