The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam has welcomed Dr Hezri Adnan as its new senior advisor on sustainable development.
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Hezri was until last September the group sustainability director at stock exchange operator Bursa Malaysia, a post he held since January 2024.
He brings more than 30 years of experience in sustainable development across public policy, public administration and the corporate sector to the role, said UNDP Malaysia in a LinkedIn post.
“We look forward to working closely with Dr Hezri as we advance inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development pathways in this region,” UNDP Malaysia added.
UNDP has been involved in development partnerships across Malaysia for more than 60 years, having assisted the country with the development and implementation of its five-year national economic plans. Recent programmes related to sustainable development include the Youth Environment Living Labs, UNDP Climate Venture Scaler and Climate Finance Innovation Lab.
Hezri is currently a trustee of environmental non-profit WWF Malaysia.
Prior to his appointment at Bursa Malaysia, he served as executive director at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research and before that, as chief executive officer of the Langkawi Development Authority under the Ministry of Finance. Hezri was also briefly a sustainability advisor to the publicly listed chemicals arm of national oil and gas company Petronas.
At the time of his departure from Bursa Malaysia last year, he said in a LinkedIn post that he would be taking time to reflect on what “new narratives could inspire more effective climate action.”
“My time at the Exchange has been deeply rewarding. I was fortunate to have worked alongside outstanding colleagues in strengthening ESG integration across our capital markets,” Hezri added.
He was succeeded by Dr Ken Yeoh Kyid in the position of director of group sustainability, who had returned to the stock exchange following a two-year stint at UOB Malaysia.
Yeoh currently oversees sustainability management and ecosystem development, as well as corporate sustainability policy and practices at Bursa Malaysia.
He had been senior vice president of corporate governance and sustainability at Bursa Malaysia from 2018 to 2023, before joining the Malaysia office of Singapore-headquartered banking group UOB.
At UOB, Yeoh was involved in crafting the bank’s climate-related disclosures, assessing the environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices of corporate clients, as well as engaging the bank’s own supply chain entities to adopt sustainability principles.
He also worked on developing and managing an online repository of ESG knowledge, conducted internal capacity building programmes and curated sustainability accelerator programmes for small- and medium-sized enterprises in Malaysia.
