Cheah Tek Kuang

Chairman

Mr Cheah was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad on 12 September 2014 as Independent Non-Executive Director. He was re-designated as Senior Independent Non-Executive Director on 27 April 2017 and Chairman on 22 March 2023.

Mr Cheah started his career in Federal Industrial Development Authority (now known as Malaysian Industrial Development Authority) in 1970 as an Economist responsible for research and planning in regional industrial cooperation. In 1978, he joined the Arab Malaysian Merchant Bank Berhad (now known as AmInvestment Bank Berhad) in its Corporate Finance Department. He was later promoted as Chief Executive Officer and Group Managing Director of AmInvestment Bank Berhad in 2002.

Following the restructuring of AmBank Group, he was appointed as Group Managing Director of AMMB Holdings Berhad, the financial holding company of AmBank Group in 2005. He retired in March 2012 after serving AmBank Group for more than 33 years.

Mr Cheah was a Director of Berjaya Sports Toto Berhad, Cagamas Holdings Berhad, Danajamin Nasional Berhad, Velesto Energy Berhad, IOI Corporation Berhad, Employees Provident Fund and Bursa Malaysia Berhad.

Mr Cheah retired as a member of Appeals Committee of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on 31 December 2022 after serving more than 12 years. He was also a member of Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan)’s Investment Panel.

Mr Cheah’s other directorships in public companies include UPA Corporation Berhad, Berjaya Hartanah Berhad and A-Rank Berhad. He is also a board member of non-profit organisations, Yayasan Bursa Malaysia and Malaysian Institute of Art.

Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Liew Kee Sin

Executive Vice Chairman

Tan Sri Liew was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad on 12 September 2014 as Executive Vice Chairman.

Tan Sri Liew started his career as a banker in a local merchant bank in 1981. After gaining five years of experience in the banking industry, he ventured into property development. Following a reverse takeover of S P Setia Berhad, he was appointed as its Group Managing Director in May 1996 and continued to helm S P Setia Berhad as its President & Chief Executive Officer for the next 18 years until 30 April 2014.

In mid-2012, Tan Sri Liew led the Malaysian consortium of S P Setia Berhad, Sime Darby Berhad and Employees Provident Fund in successfully bidding for the Battersea Power Station site in London, United Kingdom and was appointed as the first Chairman of the Battersea Project Holding Company in 2012, a position he held until September 2015.Tan Sri Liew was also a Member of Authority of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority.

Tan Sri Liew has received numerous awards and international recognition such as Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) 2022, UK-Malaysia Business Personality of the Year by the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce at its inaugural Business Excellence Awards 2018 as well as the Malaysia Country Winner (2011) and Judge (2014 & 2015) at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

He is also the Executive Chairman of Eco World Development Group Berhad.

Dato’ Teow Leong Seng

President & chief executive officer / executive director

Dato’ Teow was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad on 12 September 2014 as Executive Director. He was then appointed as President & Chief Executive Officer on 13 October 2014. He serves as a member of Risk Management Committee.

Dato’ Teow has more than 30 years of experience in the real-estate development and finance related industries. He began his career in 1981 with the Hong Leong Group and has since then held various senior finance and accounting positions in several publicly-listed companies, including heading the Real Estate Finance business at Citibank Malaysia.

Prior to joining Eco World International Berhad, Dato’ Teow was the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of S P Setia Berhad, where he was in charge of the group’s Corporate and Finance Division while overseeing the Business Development Division and overseas expansion plans. Dato’ Teow led S P Setia Berhad’s foray overseas to Vietnam, Australia and United Kingdom and played a key role in further expansion to China.

A notable achievement for Dato’ Teow would be his role in securing the iconic Battersea Power Station redevelopment project in United Kingdom. He led the team that gave the Malaysian consortium, comprising S P Setia Berhad, Sime Darby Berhad and Employees Provident Fund the confidence to submit an unconditional bid for the site. He was appointed as the Chairman of the United Kingdom-based Battersea Power Station Development Company Limited to oversee the development management of the project.

Other than Eco World International Berhad, he does not hold any other directorships in public companies and listed issuers in Malaysia.

Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria

Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rebecca was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad on 27 April 2017 as Independent Non-Executive Director and re-designated as the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company on 22 March 2023. She serves as the Chairperson of Nomination and Remuneration Committee and a member of Whistleblowing Committee.

Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rebecca began her career in the Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Service and retired as the Secretary-General of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in July 2016.

Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rebecca has received numerous awards such as Malcolm S. Knowles, Dissertation of the Year 2000, Academy of Human Resource Development, USA, Order of the Star of Italy in 2015, Rio Branco Order from Brazil in 2016 as well as the Meritorious and Distinguished award, Asian Productivity Organisation in 2021.

Currently, she is the Executive Director of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat and sits on the Board of Sunway Berhad, Hartalega Holdings Berhad, Dialog Group Berhad and Not-for Profit organisations such as Institute for Democracy & Economic Affairs Berhad, MyKasih Foundation and Yayasan Hartalega.

Datuk Heah Kok Boon

Non-Independent Non-Executive Director

Datuk Heah Kok Boon (“Datuk Heah”) was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad (“EWI”) on 7 August 2024 as Non-Independent Non-Executive Director.

Datuk Heah has over 35 years of experience in audit, corporate finance and corporate investment. He started his career in the audit department of an international accounting firm, KPMG. After several years of various audit exposures, he joined the corporate finance department of Aseambankers Malaysia Berhad (now known as Maybank Investment Bank Berhad). After 14 years of originating, structuring and executing various deals in multiple industries, he left Aseambankers Malaysia Berhad (now known as Maybank Investment Bank Berhad) with the last held position as Executive Vice President in 2007.

Datuk Heah then joined S P Setia Berhad (“S P Setia”) as Head of Corporate Affairs where he planned and executed S P Setia’s mergers and acquisition exercises, financial strategies and funding needs.

In 2013, he left S P Setia and joined Eco World Development Group Berhad (“Eco World Malaysia”). He has played a pivotal role in steering various corporate initiatives aimed at expanding the Eco World Malaysia Group, including structuring the reverse takeover endeavor that led to the establishment of EcoWorld, as well as spearheading the Initial Public Offering of EWI on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. Following the successful listing of EWI, he was appointed as a Board member of EWI from April to September 2017 and October 2023 to March 2024.

Currently, Datuk Heah is the Chief Financial Officer of Eco World Malaysia and the Alternate Director to the Executive Chairman of Eco World Malaysia. He is also a member of Investment Committee of Eco World Malaysia.

Benjamin Teo Jong Hian

Non-Independent Non-Executive Director

Mr Benjamin Teo Jong Hian (“Mr Teo”) was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad on 7 August 2024 as Non-Independent Non-Executive Director.

Mr Teo is currently the Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, and a major shareholder of Paramount Corporation Berhad (“Paramount”).

He started his career with Paramount in 2012 as a management trainee and rose through the ranks to become the Director of Innovation at Paramount Property in 2015, and thereafter as Chief Executive Office of Paramount Property Development Sdn Bhd until 31 August 2021.

He created and launched the Co-labs Coworking brand (“Co-labs”) as a new business for Paramount in 2016, and expanded the business from one space 4,000 square feet to seven spaces of 167,000 square feet. Co-labs is also the top 3 co-working space players in Malaysia.

Mr Teo is also the designated Sustainability Officer of Paramount since 2022 to lead Paramount in the implementation of its Environmental, Social & Governance (“ESG”) strategies and achievement of its ESG Key Performance Indicators.

Dato’ Siow Kim Lun

Independent Non-Executive Director

Dato’ Siow was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad on 12 September 2014 as Independent Non-Executive Director. He serves as the Chairman of Audit Committee and also a member of Nomination and Remuneration Committee and Whistleblowing Committee.

Dato’ Siow started his career in investment banking with Malaysian International Merchant Bankers Berhad in 1981. He later joined Permata Chartered Merchant Bank Berhad (now known as Affin Hwang Investment Bank Berhad) where he served as a Manager and the Head of its Corporate Finance Division from 1985 to 1993.

Between 1993 to 2006, he was with the Securities Commission Malaysia and has served as the Director of its Issues & Investment Division and Market Supervision Division.

Dato’ Siow’s other directorships in public companies include EITA Resources Berhad, Sunway Construction Group Berhad, Radiant Globaltech Berhad, RHB Investment Bank Berhad, RHB Trustees Berhad and Malaysian Trustees Bhd.

Dato’ Kong Sooi Lin

Independent Non-Executive Director

Dato’ Kong was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad on 1 April 2019 as Independent Non-Executive Director. She serves as the Chairperson of Risk Management Committee and Whistleblowing Committee as well as a member of Audit Committee.

She has over 30 years of investment banking experience and has extensive equity and debt transaction expertise, having advised on numerous highly profiled and industry-shaping corporate exercises in Malaysia and Asia Pacific.

Dato’ Kong began her career with Ernst & Whinney (now known as Ernst & Young) and Arthur Andersen & Co. and then joined Bumiputra Merchant Bankers Berhad under Corporate Banking in 1989.

In 1994, she joined CIMB Investment Bank Berhad and has been with CIMB Group Holdings Berhad for 25 years until her retirement from CIMB Investment Bank Berhad as its Chief Executive Officer in March 2019. Throughout her tenure with CIMB Group, Dato’ Kong has contributed significantly to entrenching CIMB as one of the top investment banking houses domestically and across ASEAN.

Dato’ Kong has held various capacities within CIMB Group. Her roles include Group Head of Investment Banking Division for the Asia Pacific region, Group Head of Private Banking, Head of Senior Bankers Group, Chairperson of CIMB Private Limited Sri Lanka and Commissioner on the Board of Commissioners of CIMB Securities Indonesia.

Dato’ Kong’s other directorships in public companies include AMMB Holdings Berhad, AmInvestment Bank Berhad, IOI Corporation Berhad and PMB Technology Berhad.

Pauline Wong Wan Voon

Independent Non-Executive Director

Ms Pauline was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad on 2 April 2018 as Independent Non-Executive Director. She serves as a member of Audit Committee, Risk Management Committee and Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

Ms Pauline began her career with Messrs Suhaimi Khor Zulkifli & Chang, Advocates & Solicitors in September 1992 as a Legal Counsel. In June 1993, she joined TA Securities Berhad as an Assistant Manager, where she was tasked with setting up a new business unit, before being transferred to the Legal Affairs Department in April 1994 to undertake in-house legal work.

Ms Pauline is currently the Executive Director of the Malaysian Investment Banking Association (“MIBA”), where for the past 25 years, she has been instrumental in leading and driving the development and implementation of key initiatives and strategies that ensured the steady growth of MIBA as a prominent and vital contributor towards the growth of a deep, vibrant and innovative capital markets as well as promoting the development of sustainable intellectual capital in the industry, with emphasis on talent development and capacity building.

Currently, she represents MIBA on the Financial Industry Collective Outreach (FINCO) Steering Committee and Islamic Finance Profession Charter Governing Panel.

Previously, she was the Secretary General and Council Member of the Malaysian Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a member of the Membership Committee of the Malaysian Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and a representative of MIBA on the Bursa Malaysia Continuing Education Programme Accreditation Committee.

Apart from Eco World International Berhad, she does not hold any other directorships in public companies and listed issuers in Malaysia.

Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong

Alternate Director to Mr Benjamin Teo Jong Hian

Mr Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong (“Mr Chew”) was appointed to the Board of Eco World International Berhad on 7 August 2024 as an Alternate Director to Mr Benjamin Teo Jong Hian.

Mr Chew is currently the Group Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Paramount Corporation Berhad (“Paramount”). He has more than 3 decades of experience as a business and corporate driver including 10 years as a property developer.

Mr Chew led Paramount team in achieving consistent growth in revenue and profitability with 18 property development projects launched since 2015 and played a key role in upgrading the rank of Paramount in The Edge Top Property Developers Awards from 25th position in 2015 to 12th position in 2023.

Prior to joining Paramount, Mr Chew has held the position of Chief Executive Officer and Director of OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, and he has more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry as well as four years in accounting and tax/auditing industry.

Mr Chew also sits on the Board of Asian Banking School as an Independent Director and Chairman of its Audit Committee. Previously, he had also served as member of the Small Debt Resolution Committee of Bank Negara Malaysia and Advisory Committee of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Malaysia, and Director of Credit Bureau Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad.