Emery Leadership: Driving Innovation & Sustainability
Investing in long-term strategies for sustained growth
Our leadership team is comprised of highly talented individuals who bring extensive experience and expertise to accelerate Emery Oleochemicals to greater heights in an ever-evolving marketplace. With a firm commitment to the values and spirit of a world-leading, natural-based chemicals company, we continue on our successful path of being a sustainable, profitable growth company, focused on producing high-performance, high-quality products that meet or exceed customer expectations; thus positioning Emery Oleochemicals as your preferred solutions partner.
Chairman of Board of Directors
Mr. Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha, 54, a Malaysian, was appointed as Group Managing Director of Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SDPB) in July 2019 to lead the Group in its overall operations. He is also the President of the Malaysian Agricultural Producers Association since 2017.
He has held various positions in the Group since the merger in 2007 including Head of Plantation Upstream Malaysia; Head, Plantation Services and Special Project: Chief Operating Officer, Upstream; and Deputy to Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer, Upstream.
Prior to joining the Group, he was a Trainee Accountant/Auditor with Wellers, Accountants, Oxford, United Kingdom where he started his career in 1988. Between 1991 and 1997, he served in Shell Group of Companies serving in various positions including as Area Accountant for Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd (Southern Region) and as Indirect Tax Advisor for Shell Malaysia Ltd..
He joined Guthrie Property Holding Sdn Bhd in 1997 as Finance and Administration Manager and worked with the Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad group of companies until 2007. He was also the Chief Executive Officer of Highlands & Lowlands Berhad and Guthrie Ropel Berhad, two listed companies within the Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad group from 2006 to 2007. In 2001, he was a key member of the team that acquired and later restructured Minamas Plantation, Indonesia.
In 2013, he left the Group to set up Xcellence Alliance Sdn Bhd and Chemara Palmea Holdings Bhd, vehicles for investment in plantation as well as providing investment advisory services. He joined the Group in 2016.
He undertook his Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) studies at Trent Polytechnic (Nottingham Trent university), Nottingham, United Kingdom and later obtained his ACCA qualification from Emile Woolf College of Accountancy, London in 1990. In 1996, he was admitted as a member of the ACCA. He became a Fellow of the ACCA in 2001. He is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and a member of Incorporated Society of Planters since 2006.
Member of Board of Directors
Mrs. Chananchida Wiboonkanarak is currently the Senior Vice President, Downstream Strategy and Business Development at PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC).
Her prior professional work experience includes Director, GC-M PTA Company Limited; Director, Thai PET Resin Company Limited; Directory, Thai Fatty Alcohols Company Limited; Acting Senior Vice President - Downstream Strategy and Business Development, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited and Vice President - Strategy and Business Development, High-Volume Specialties Business Unit, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited.
Mrs. Wiboonkanarak holds a Master of Engineering (Chemical Engineering) degree and a Bachelor of Science (Chemical Engineering) degree, both from Chulalongkorn University. In addition, her further education and training includes the following institutions: Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University, General Electric, GE, U.S.A., Harvard Business School Campus, Shanghai, China and the Thai Institute of Directors Association (IOD).
Member of Board of Directors, Member of Executive Committee and Member of Risk & Audit Committee
Mrs. Renaka Ramachandran, a Malaysian, was appointed as the chief Financial Officer of Sime Darby Plantation Berhad on 1 April 2011. In this role, she oversees various departments within the Group, which include finance, information technology, compliance and risk (of the Global Trading and Marketing Unit), procurement, corporate finance and investor relations departments. She also was appointed as Deputy Managing Director of Sime Darby Oils (SDO) on 15 July 2020 with a role focusing on leading the transformation programme in the Asia Pacific region and governance matters.
She began her career as an Audit Associate with Raj and Associates in 1991 where she was leading small audit engagements until 1992. She joined Coopers and Lybrand (now known as PricewaterhouseCoopers) in 1992 as an Audit Associated and moved up the ranks to the position of Executive Director on 1 January 2004. As an Executive Director, she was involved in, among other, the audit of public listed companies, review of profit and cash flow forecast and projections for restructurings and initial public offerings, due diligence and financial analysis. Her roles included overseeing working teams, giving presentations and providing training for both internal staff and external clients. She was also the representative of PricewaterhouseCoopers and committee member on the work group of IAS 41 (Accounting Standard on Agriculture) in the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB).
She was qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1992 and was admitted as a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in 1998. She became a Fellow of the ACCA in 2002.
Mrs. Ramachandran has been actively involved in the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board for the changes to IAS 41 by working on papers with the MASB for its onward discussion with the International Accounting Standards Board. She is also a member of the Accounting and Taxation Committee of the Malaysia Palm Oil Association and a member of the ACCA Accountants for Business Global Forum.
Member of Board of Directors, Member of Executive Committee and Member of Risk and Audit Committee
Mrs. Chandavasu is currently the Senior Vice President - Specialty Business at PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC).
Her prior professional work experience includes Vice President, International Strategy and Business Development, at PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited.
Mrs. Chandavasu holds a Master of Science (Petrochemical Technology) degree from the Petroleum and Petrochemical College at Chulalongkorn University. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Chemical Technology) degree, also from Chulalongkorn University. In addition, her further education and training includes the following institutions: PTT Leadership and Learning Institute, PacRim Group, Dale Carnegie, Kepner Tregoe, and Achieve Global.
Member of Board of Directors, Chairman of Executive Committee and Chairman of Risk & Audit Committee
Mr. Narongsak Jivakanun, currently the Executive Vice President – International Business Operations, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, has more than 30 years of experience in petrochemical, chemicals, oil refinery and industrial development, strategy and planning roles.
In addition, Mr. Jivakanun holds other management positions including Vice Chairman of the Board of Director and Member of Nomination & Renumeration Committee, Vinythai Public Company Limited (VNT); Director & Risk Management Committee, Global Green Chemicals Company Limited (GGC); Chairman, GC Ventures Company Limited; Chairman, GC Ventures American Corporation; Chairman, GC Estate Company Limited; Director, PTTGC USA LLC; Director, PTTGC USA Corporation; and Director GC Polyols Company Limited.
Mr. Jivakanun holds a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University, U.S.A. and a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. He also has completed several other executive programs including: Director Certification Program (DCP) Class 165/2012 at Thai Institute of Directors Association (IOD), Certificate from TLCA Leadership Development Program (LDP) Class 1/2013, International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and Executive Certification Program on Energy Literacy for a Sustainable Future (TEA), Class 8/2016 at Thai Energy Academy (TEA).
Member of Board of Directors
Miss Pattaralada Sa-Ngasang is currently the Executive Vice President – Finance and Accounting at PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC).
Miss Sa-Ngasang’s prior professional work experience includes Executive Vice President – Finance and Accounting, Thai Oil Public Company Limited; Chairperson, Thaioil Treasury Center Company Limited; Director, Ubon Bio Ethanol Public Company Limited; Director, Thaioil Energy Services Company Limited; Director, Thaioil Ethanol Company Limited; Director, Sapthip Company Limited; and Senior Vice President – Financial Planning, Thai Oil Public Company Limited.
Miss Sa-Ngasang holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Thammasat University, a Mini Master of Business Administration degree from the National Institute of Development Administration, and a Bachelor of Accounting degree from Thammasat University. In addition, her further education and training includes the following institutions: National Defence College of Thailand (NDC); Capital Market Academy; Harvard Business School (USA), Thai Listed Companies Association (TLCA) and IMD Business School, Switzerland; Fiscal Policy Research Institute Foundation, Ministry of Finance; Cornell University (USA); Institute of Research and Development for Public Enterprises (IRDP), and the Thai Institute of Directors Association (IOD).
Member of Board of Directors
Mr. Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad, a Malaysian, was appointed as Managing Director of Sime Dary Oils (SDO) in March 2019. He joined the Group in 2014 where priot to the Sime Darby de-merger, he lead the ten Sime Darby's Global Trading & Marketing unit as well as the Plantation Division's Downstream Manufacturing organization. Today, as the Managing Director of SDO, he continues to lead the Group's efforts in market expansion and revenue growth focusing on bulk trading, differentiated product offering for industrial customers (B2B) and high quality end-consumer products for its B2C segment. .
He began his career in 1995 as a trader with Cargill in Malaysia where e was involved in the trading of palm oil and palm products, and ensuring uninterrupted supply of feedstock to the refineries. He moved to the Philippines in 1999 to join Cargill's copra crushing operation where he was involved in sourcing copra across the Philippines and merchandising coconut oil in Europe.
In 2001, he joined Nestle initially based in Kuala Lumpur before moving to London in 2004 to join the company’s global cocoa procurement and price risk management desk. In 2006, he relocated to Singapore to establish Nestle’s Commodity Procurement Centre for Asia, Oceania and Africa Regions and he was appointed as the General Manager and Head of Global Oils and Fats. Under these capacities, he was responsible for leading supplier development works as well as regional oils and fats procurement initiatives.
In 2010, he joined Unilever in Singapore as Director of Commodity Risk Management where he led a team of price risk manager located in the USA, Switzerland and Singapore. The team was responsible for managing Unilever's global oils and fats price exposure within the company's annual spend budget, developing market analysis and price forecasting.
He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. in 2019, he attended the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Member of Board of Directors, Member of Executive Committee and Member of Risk & Audit Committee
Mr. Amir Hamzah, Malaysian, is currently the Head of Strategy and Innovation for Sime Darby Plantation (SDP) and was appointed as Interim Caretaker for Sime Darby Oils Non-food Business on 1 February 2022.
Mr. Amir joined SDP in June 2019 as Vice President in Strategy & Innovation and was responsible for strategy and business development activities for Sime Darby Oils. Prior to joining SDP, Mr. Amir was an equity research analyst for Credit Suisse Securities Malaysia, and later took on various roles in Strategy, Commercial, and Digitalisation, in Axiata Group and Astro Holdings Malaysia.
Mr. Amir graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom and is an affiliate of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Alternate Member of Board of Directors, Alternate Member of Executive Committee and Alternate Member of Risk & Audit Committee
Dr. Shariman Alwani Mohamed Nordin, a Malaysian, was appointed as the Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer of Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SDPB) on 22 January 2018 and was appointed as Head, Transformation Sime Darby Oils (SDO) Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) on 1 April 2021.
He was appointed the Head, Strategy & Business Development of SDPB in February 2014 and is responsible for overseeing the Company’s corporate and innovation strategies. Currently, he is also the Chief Transformation Officer and in this capacity, drives the Company’s Value Creation and Transformation programme.
Prior to joining SDPB, Dr. Shariman was Senior Vice President, Strategy & Value Management in Sime Darby Berhad. He had also served as an Economist at Bank Negara Malaysia from 1992 to 2008 and was Sector Economist in Fidelity Management and Research, Boston, United States of America (USA) from 1999 to 2001.
He holds a PhD in International Economics & Finance from Brandeis University’s International Business School, USA and a Bachelor degree in Economics from Cambridge University, United Kingdom.
Alternate Member of Board of Directors, Alternate Member of Executive Committee and Alternate Member of Risk & Audit Committee
Miss Satida Krailas is currently the Vice President, Advance Materials and Biospecialty at PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC).
Miss Krailas’ prior professional work experience includes Vice President, Specialty Business at PTTGC and Vice President, Business Development 1 at PTTGC.
Miss Krailas holds a Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of New South Wales, Australia, a Master of Chemical Engineering degree from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from Khon-Kaen University, Thailand.
Chairman of Executive Committee, Member of Board of Directors and Chariman of Risk & Audit Committee
Mr. Narongsak Jivakanun, currently the Executive Vice President – International Business Operations, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, has more than 30 years of experience in petrochemical, chemicals, oil refinery and industrial development, strategy and planning roles. In addition, Mr. Jivakanun holds other management positions including Vice Chairman of the Board of Director and Member of Nomination & Renumeration Committee, Vinythai Public Company Limited (VNT); Director & Risk Management Committee, Global Green Chemicals Company Limited (GGC); Chairman, GC Ventures Company Limited; Chairman, GC Ventures American Corporation; Chairman, GC Estate Company Limited; Director, PTTGC USA LLC; Director, PTTGC USA Corporation; and Director GC Polyols Company Limited.
Mr. Jivakanun holds a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University, U.S.A. and also has a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering, from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. He also has completed many other executive programs as a Director Certification Program (DCP) Class 165/2012 at Thai Institute of Directors Association (IOD), a Certificate from TLCA Leadership Development Program (LDP) Class 1/2013, International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and an Executive Certification Program on Energy Literacy for a Sustainable Future (TEA), Class 8/2016 at Thai Energy Academy (TEA).
Member of Executive Committee, Member of Board of Directors and Member of Risk & Audit Committee
Mrs. Renaka Ramachandran, a Malaysian, was appointed as the chief Financial Officer of Sime Darby Plantation Berhad on 1 April 2011. In this role, she oversees various departments within the Group, which include finance, information technology, compliance and risk (of the Global Trading and Marketing Unit), procurement, corporate finance and investor relations departments. She was also appointed as Deputy Managing Director of Sime Darby Oils (SDO) on 15 July 2020 with a role focusing on leading the transformation programme in the Asia Pacific region and governance matters.
She began her career as an Audit Associate with Raj and Associates in 1991 where she was leading small audit engagements until 1992. She joined Coopers and Lybrand (now known as PricewaterhouseCoopers) in 1992 as an Audit Associated and moved up the ranks to the position of Executive Director on 1 January 2004. As an Executive Director, she was involved in, among other, the audit of public listed companies, review of profit and cash flow forecast and projections for restructurings and initial public offerings, due diligence and financial analysis. Her roles included overseeing working teams, giving presentations and providing training for both internal staff and external clients. She was also the representative of PricewaterhouseCoopers and committee member on the work group of IAS 41 (Accounting Standard on Agriculture) in the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB).
She was qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1992 and was admitted as a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in 1998. She became a Fellow of the ACCA in 2002.
Mrs. Ramachandran has been actively involved in the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board for the changes to IAS 41 by working on papers with the MASB for its onward discussion with the International Accounting Standards Board. She is also a member of the Accounting and Taxation Committee of the Malaysia Palm Oil Association and a member of the ACCA Accountants for Business Global Forum.
Member of Board of Directors, Member of Executive Committee and Member of Risk & Audit Committee
Mr. Amir Hamzah, Malaysian, is currently the Head of Strategy and Innovation for Sime Darby Plantation (SDP) and was appointed as Interim Caretaker for Sime Darby Oils Non-food Business on 1 February 2022.
Mr. Amir joined SDP in June 2019 as Vice President in Strategy & Innovation and was responsible for strategy and business development activities for Sime Darby Oils. Prior to joining SDP, Mr. Amir was an equity research analyst for Credit Suisse Securities Malaysia, and later took on various roles in Strategy, Commercial, and Digitalisation, in Axiata Group and Astro Holdings Malaysia.
Mr. Amir graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom and is an affiliate of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Member of Board of Directors, Member of Executive Committee and Member of Risk and Audit Committee
Mrs. Chandavasu is currently the Senior Vice President - Specialty Business at PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC).
Her prior professional work experience includes Vice President, International Strategy and Business Development, at PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited.
Mrs. Chandavasu holds a Master of Science (Petrochemical Technology) degree from the Petroleum and Petrochemical College at Chulalongkorn University. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Chemical Technology) degree, also from Chulalongkorn University. In addition, her further education and training includes the following institutions: PTT Leadership and Learning Institute, PacRim Group, Dale Carnegie, Kepner Tregoe, and Achieve Global.
Alternate Member of Executive Committee, Alternate Member of Board of Directors and Alternate Member of Risk & Audit Committee
Dr. Shariman Alwani Mohamed Nordin, a Malaysian, was appointed as the Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer of Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SDPB) on 22 January 2018 and was appointed as Head, Transformation Sime Darby Oils (SDO) Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) on 1 April 2021.
He was appointed the Head, Strategy & Business Development of SDPB in February 2014 and is responsible for overseeing the Company’s corporate and innovation strategies. Currently, he is also the Chief Transformation Officer and in this capacity, drives the Company’s Value Creation and Transformation programme.
Prior to joining SDPB, Dr. Shariman was Senior Vice President, Strategy & Value Management in Simd Darby Berhad. He had also served as an Economist at Bank Negara Malaysia from 1992 to 2008 and was Sector Economist in Fidelity Management and Research, Boston, United States of America (USA) from 1999 to 2001.
He holds a PhD in International Economics & Finance from Brandeis University’s International Business School, U.S.A. and a Bachelor degree in Economics from Cambridge University, United Kingdom.
Alternate Member of Board of Directors, Alternate Member of Executive Committee and Alternate Member of Risk & Audit Committee
Miss Satida Krailas is currently the Vice President, Advance Materials and Biospecialty at PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC).
Miss Krailas’ prior professional work experience includes Vice President, Specialty Business at PTTGC and Vice President, Business Development 1 at PTTGC.
Miss Krailas holds a Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of New South Wales, Australia, a Master of Chemical Engineering degree from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from Khon-Kaen University, Thailand.
Group Chief Executive Officer
Jay Taylor, who has over 35 years of senior leadership and manufacturing experience in the Petrochemical and Oleochemicals industry, is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Emery Oleochemicals Group. He was appointed on April 1, 2020. In his current capacity as GCEO, Jay is responsible for driving global performance improvements in the Group to achieve sustainable growth and to optimize shareholders value.
Additionally, Jay holds the roles of Chief Manufacturing Officer, Head of Major Projects, and Regional Managing Director for North America and Europe. In these leadership and general management roles, Jay is responsible for providing global operational coordination and guidance in all relevant functions including safety, budgeting, regulatory and environmental compliance and stewardship, personnel development and operational efficiencies; overseeing project development and management, systems adherence, governance controls and efficiencies; and spearheading Emery’s business and operations in North America and Europe.
Jay's previous career experience includes leadership roles at Huntsman where he was responsible for managing five of their polymer plants overseeing their operations, environmental compliance, engineering, quality, safety and reliability.
Jay has a Bachelor of Science degree from Lubbock Christian University, Texas.
Chief Business Officer
Starting his tenure at Emery Oleochemicals in 1998, Billy began his career as a Marketing Executive responsible for the Coatings & Inks and Plastics Technology divisions, based out of the Malaysia office. Quickly gaining a strong foothold in these high-growth sectors, he took on an international portfolio with his promotion as the Asia Pacific Regional Business Manager, Plastics Technology and subsequently, as the Asia Pacific Regional Business Director overseeing the Fatty Alcohols and Oleo Derivatives business. In these two roles, Billy is credited for establishing high-performance teams which expanded market share, sales revenue and profitability.
Leaving the company to pursue other interests in 2007, he gained further expertise in the areas of general management , operations, and technical support covering Asia and North America. Re-joining Emery Oleochemicals in 2011, Billy took up dual roles as the Regional Sales Director and Regional Head of Oleobasics, Americas based out of Cincinnati – where he still resides today. Having grown the business triple-fold through strategic go-to-market initiatives and effective collaboration with the North America operations team, he was promoted to the role of Global Business Director in January 2016.
In his current role as Chief Business Officer, Billy is responsible for delivering strategic growth through the execution of projects across the company’s six distinct business groups. As a key member of the senior leadership at the company, he focuses on driving operational excellence in the company’s multicultural, multinational organization while delivering superior, sustainable products to help ensure customer success.
He holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Economics, both earned at the University of Western Australia.
Group Chief Financial Officer
Anthony Cheong is the Group Chief Financial Officer of Emery Oleochemicals Group. He was appointed in October 2017 and has more than 30 years of experience in finance, management, strategy, risk and business support largely gained in the manufacturing environment with multinational fast moving consumer goods, chemical and oleochemical companies.
Anthony joined Emery Oleochemicals in 2008 as their Asia Pacific Chief Financial Officer before relocating to Cincinnati, USA in 2010 in the position of CFO of North America. During his two years there, he was also the Global Finance Lead for the Group’s OleoBasics business to provide business analysis and strategy support.
He returned to Malaysia in 2012, assuming the position of Global Finance Director - Major Projects and Manufacturing Support and leading the Group’s large capital investment and cost control. He moved on as the Global Finance Director - Finance Operations in 2013 where his responsibilities included Group financial reporting, taxation, audit, risk management, transfer pricing, compliance and implementation of accounting standards and policies globally.
Prior to joining Emery Oleochemicals, Anthony began his career in 1991 as an audit assistant before moving to Colgate Palmolive Malaysia in the same year in various senior financial analyst roles. He continued his career as a finance manager with Danone Malaysia in 1999 and in 2003, he joined Cabot Malaysia, a leading global specialty chemicals company where he was awarded a Global Excellence Award for successfully implemented various finance projects across six Asia Pacific countries.
Anthony is a Chartered Accountant and is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants United Kingdom.