KUALA LUMPUR: The Board of Directors of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has received notification from Datuk Yasmin Mahmood that she will be relinquishing her position as Chief Executive Officer.
“It is with a heavy heart that I am tendering my resignation as CEO of MDEC to pursue a role with a tech venture in Jakarta,” said Datuk Yasmin.
“It has been an absolute honour to have served in this position for the last 4 years and 3 months. I have put my heart and soul into the role to bring MDEC to a higher level of effectiveness and relevance, not only with the initiatives and strategies we’ve implemented but also with the cultural transformation of the people in MDEC,” she added.
“I wish to express my appreciation to the Board for their guidance and support throughout my tenure. It has been a great honour serving the nation. I wish everyone at MDEC the very best on their continued journey,” she further said.
After spearheading the strategy and planning for 2019, Datuk Yasmin Mahmood will relinquish her position as CEO, and all other positions within MDEC effective January 15, 2019. She joined
MDEC as CEO on 15 September 2014.
Speaking on her contribution to the agency and the ecosystem, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Gobind Singh Deo said, “We thank Datuk Yasmin for her stewardship in leading MDEC and all her contributions to the digital economy ecosystem. Her passion, commitment and energy in seeing things through to the very end has benefited Malaysia throughout the years.”
Thanking her for her leadership, Acting MDEC Chairman Datuk Mathialakan Chelliah said:
“Datuk Yasmin has been a very strong and engaged visionary leader at MDEC. Her ability to drive outcome-focused initiatives at a national scale is unparalleled. We are extremely grateful for her tireless efforts in serving the nation the last few years and are indeed saddened that she will be leaving MDEC.”
Under Datuk Yasmin’s leadership, MDEC had embarked and participated in nation-building projects such as the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) to encourage the Malaysian small-medium enterprise (SME) community to embrace eCommerce, brought in foreign direct investments (FDIs) into Malaysia, nurtured the Malaysian technology ecosystem, including startups and local companies to world-class levels, empowered the future generation with the necessary skills and knowledge (via MyDigitalMaker), and encouraged inclusivity amongst community through initiatives such as eRezeki and eUsahawan so that more could earn additional income from the Digital Economy.
The information, communications and technology (ICT) industry has also expressed their gratitude for Datuk Yasmin’s efforts to uplift the nation’s Digital Economy.
National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) Chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah praised Datuk
Yasmin for having brought “the work ethics and spirit of her 30 years of experience from the private sector and international multinational companies (MNCs) into the public sector for the benefit of the local ICT industry.” Datuk Yasmin was previously the General Manager of HP and Dell, and Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia.
In the meantime, a management committee will be activated as part of the transition plan to oversee the agency’s operations during the process of appointing a new CEO.