Surina Shukri named CEO of Malaysia’s MDEC

She succeeds Yasmin Mahmood, who relinquished her position last December to pursue a role with a tech venture in Jakarta.

“MDEC has successfully led the construction of the digital economy ecosystem in the country and has brought a lot of benefit to the people. I am confident that Surina will strive to continue building MDEC with her leadership and experience and take MDEC to a higher level, not only in Malaysia, but globally,” said Malaysia’s communications and multimedia minister Gobind Singh Deo in the official statement.

Surina built a big part of her career in the US and  has spent about 20 years with multinational companies including JPMorgan Chase & Co, and startups in various industries such as financial, natural resources, energy and technology.

The three-year appointment is effective starting January 16.

Last June, after the Malaysian general elections on May 9, Mahmood, the former Microsoft Malaysia managing director, voluntarily went on six weeks’ leave pending an investigation into MDEC’s Asean Data Analytics Exchange project due to concerns of a conflict of interest between the programme managers and training providers. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission then confirmed no element of bribery or misuse of power had been found against her.

In November, Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) CEO Ashran Ghazi had also announced his resignation with effect from December 12, 2018. He declined to reveal if the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development has identified a successor for his role.

MDEC was established in 1996 to develop Malaysia’s digital economy by driving investments, building local tech leaders, catalysing digital innovation ecosystems and propagating digital inclusitivity.