KUALA LUMPUR: Titiwangsa member of Parliament Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani has been appointed Minister of Plantation and Commodities in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's first Cabinet reshuffle.
Anwar announced the appointment this morning at the Prime Minister's Office.
Johari, who is also Umno vice-president, has served as the former Minister of Finance II in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak from June 2016 until the change in government in May 2018.
The qualified chartered accountant is also chairman of the task force on the 1MDB scandal since March.
He was also Titiwangsa MP from May 2013 to May 2018 and has been the Titiwangsa MP again since November last year.
Johari also sits on the Malaysia Economic Council, chaired by Anwar. The council is in charge of developing policies to assure the country's economic growth through foreign and domestic investments, as well as monitoring and assessing trends in the development of both the world and domestic economies.
A fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, he started his career at an international accounting firm Peat Marwick & Co (now part of KPMG) as an auditor.
He has been in the corporate world for almost 25 years and has held numerous prominent roles, including group managing director and chairman, in several firms, both listed and unlisted on the Bursa Malaysia.
He held positions as managing director of companies involved in the fast food industries, manufacturing and agriculture.
In the 2022 general election, Johari was renominated by BN to contest for the seat. He regained the seat and was reelected as Titiwangsa MP for the second term after defeating his closest opponent Khalid Abdul Samad of Pakatan Harapan by a 4,632-vote majority.
He also defeated Rosni Adam of Perikatan Nasional and Khairuddin Abu Hassan of Pejuang.