Nor Mohamed Yakcop

Yang Berhormat Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop
As Finance Minister II of Malaysia, Nor Mohamed Yakcop has met with prominent financial personalities such as George Soros
Minister in Prime Minister Department Economic Planning Unit
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 April 2009
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Tasek Gelugor, Penang
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 March 2008
Preceded by	Mohd Shariff Omar
Malaysian Minister of Finance II
In office 2004 – 9 April 2009
Preceded by	post created
Succeeded by	Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah
Personal details
Born	Penang
Political party	United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) part of Barisan Nasional
Spouse(s)	Fawziah Begum Abu Bakar
Occupation	Economist
Religion	Islam

Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop is currently the Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, in charge of Economic Planning Unit. He was the prior Minister of Finance II, a post he has held since 2004 until 9 April 2009.^[1] He is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Advisory Council.

Career

Previously, he served with Bank Negara, the Malaysian central bank, from 1968 to 2000. During his time in Bank Negara, he was responsible for the implementation of a number of major projects, including

• the implementation of Islamic banking in Malaysia
• the setting-up of the bilateral payments mechanism between Bank Negara Malaysia and Central Banks of South-South countries
• the setting-up of the Rating Agency Malaysia Berhad.

He was also involved in a currency speculation scandal in the early 1990s, where Bank Negara lost up to RM30 billion.^[2]

He was the Special Economic Adviser to former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

In 2002 he was appointed the director of Khazanah Nasional. He played a major role in Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) like United Engineers Malaysia Berhad and Malaysia Airlines. The transformation of the government-linked companies (GLCs) is another feather in his cap. Following the Asian financial crisis, many of the GLCs were mired in debt and rudderless. In retrospect, his solution to their problems was simple.

First, he restored their balance sheets using the Government’s sovereign guarantee when necessary as this guarantee cut down their cost of funds. Then he got young, bright professionals to manage these GLCs, giving them wide latitude to run these huge corporations but with the proviso that they did not line their own pockets. To ensure that they delivered, he introduced key performance indicators and service contracts. The GLC transformation is now into its third phase – and delivering results.

He was a member of the Dewan Negara, the upper house of the Parliament of Malaysia, for two terms before stepping down to run for the Tasek Gelugor parliamentary constituency in Penang in the Malaysian elections on March 8, 2008.

Personal history

He is a former student of St. Xavier's Institution in Penang and had served as a prefect during his student days.

He is married to Puan Sri Fawziah Begum Abu Bakar, a former welfare officer and has natural people skills. He has three grandchildren.

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia: Tasek Gelugor, Penang^[3]

Year		Barisan Nasional	Votes	Pct		Opposition	Votes	Pct
2008		Nor Mohamed Yakcop (UMNO)	20,448	55%		Ismail Salleh (PAS)	15,901	43%

References

1. ^ Duty comes first for Nor Mohamed, The Star, February 24, 2008.
2. ^ Aziz, Fauwaz Abdul (Jul. 25, 2006). Forex scandal: Jaffar 'knew about losses'. Malaysiakini.
3. ^ "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. http://semak.spr.gov.my/spr/laporan/5_KedudukanAkhir.php. Retrieved 24 June 2010.  Percentage figures based on total turnout, including votes for third parties.

External links

Persondata
Name	Yakcop, Nor Mohamed
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth	Penang
Date of death
Place of death