Musa Hitam

Chairman, Sime Darby

Date of Birth: 18\04\1934

Malaysia's Sime Darby has signed a US$800 million deal securing a 63-year concession to 220,000 hectares in Liberia that include the troubled Guthrie Rubber Plantations. Sime Darby, a government-controlled plantation operator, is headed by Chairman Musa Hitam, who has a master's degree in international relations from Sussex University and is a member of the United Malays National Organisation, the largest party in the ruling Berhad Nasional coalition government. Previously, Musa was Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Minister of Primary Industries (1974-78) and Minister of Education (1978-1981).

After serving as Mahatir bin Mohamad's Deputy Prime Minister (1981-1986), Musa was envoy to the United Nations (1990-1991), the UN Commission on Human Rights (1993-98), and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (1995-2002). He is also Chairman of the Kuala Lumpur-based World Islamic Economic Forum.

Sime Darby was formed in 2007 by the merger and listing of the state's three most successful plantation operators. The result was the world's largest oil palm plantation group, with some 100,000 employees and interests in property development, car dealerships, industrial equipment, energy and utilities. Though publicly-listed, it is controlled by two government investment holding companies, Permodalan Nasional Berhad and Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra. Both acquired assets with the help of preferential national policies and interest-free government loans.