Board of Governors

Currently Citi Country Officer (CCO) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Citibank Berhad, Sanjeev Nanavati brings with him a wealth of international leadership experience in banking and finance. His extensive knowledge in helming complex and mature businesses will prove to be beneficial towards AMCHAM's mission in addressing American business needs in Malaysia's multi-cultural business setting. On a more strategic platform, his cumulative experience in the banking and finance arena will further deepen AMCHAM's stakeholders understanding of Malaysia's investment climate and economy.

Sanjeev Nanavati's involvement with AMCHAM started in October 2007 as a member of the Board of Governors. Since then, his role in AMCHAM has broadened as he was appointed to the role of Chairman for the Events and Programs Committee as well as the Co-Chairman for the Young Enterprise Program.

Prior to his appointment as CEO of Citibank, he was Citi Malaysia's Country Head for its Institutional Clients Group since 2005. Before moving to Malaysia, Sanjeev Nanavati was Managing Director and Global Head of Citigroup Depository Receipt Services based in New York and Hong Kong, responsible for all aspects of the ADR/GDR product offering globally. He joined the Citigroup Depository Receipt Services Management team in July 2001 and strategically repositioned the business, creating a differentiated value proposition for clients. Prior to joining Citigroup, he was the Head of Corporate and Investment Banking for 6 years at one of the largest international banks in India and prior to that worked for 12 years with a major U.S. bank in M&A and Capital Markets, working in the United States and Hong Kong. His product experience extends across debt and equity capital markets; M&A and advisory; lending, cash management and trade; and more recently securities services. Sanjeev Nanavati holds an MBA Degree from Syracuse University in the United States.

Prior to his appointment, Datuk Tim sat on the Board of Governors' Executive Committee of AMCHAM, of which he was also the President from 2002-2005. For his continuing advocacy of American-Malaysian relations through the Asian Financial Crisis, he was conferred the PJN title of "Datuk" by His Majesty, The King of Malaysia, in 2005.

Armed with a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Denver, Datuk Tim began his career at Rockwell Automation, notching several top international postings over a decade including Country Manager of Malaysia, Southeast Asia Sales and Marketing Director and a two year stint leading the development of Rockwell Automation's semiconductor business in Asia. In 2001 he joined regional consultancy Mercatela as Malaysia's Manufacturing and Technology Partner and subsequently in 2003, Datuk Tim formed Myalo, an Internet solutions company forged from the Mercatela technology team.

Riding out the dot.com bust, Datuk Tim sold Myalo to New York based advertising group TBWA\TEQUILA in 2006 where he currently leads the day-to-day activities of the agency as its Executive Vice President.

Datuk Nicholas S. Zefferys has a fifty-year multinational career and has worked in Malaysia and ASEAN countries for eighteen years. Datuk Zefferys was conferred with his current title by the previous King of Malaysia upon the recommendation of the Past Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, for the service he has provided to the country. He has also been appointed by the previous Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia, Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Seri Utama Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to a select Task Force (Pemudah) to improve the Government public service delivery system and the well being of the people of Malaysia. He has also recently been appointed by the current Prime Minister, the Honourable Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak to a newly formed nine member National Economic Advisory Council to reshape the Malaysian economic model in light of the global downturn and the need to move Malaysia to a high-income and fully developed nation status.

Datuk Zefferys has served internationally as a Board member on a number of NGO and charitable organisations. and has served in elective and appointed positions in government service in the USA. He has conducted seminars, workshops, and lectures at universities, institutions, and conferences globally. Datuk has also authored and contributed to a number of periodicals, books, and other publications.

He received his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and was recognised by RPI with an Alumni Fellows Award for his outstanding accomplishments in his life works and for the example set for RPI students to emulate.  He also received a Masters in Business Administration from State University of New York at Buffalo. He has also studied at Columbia University, University of Washington, Seattle University, University of Utah, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, and the University of Southern California over his career.

He served several years as a midshipman and an officer in the United States Navy. In addition he was an advisor to the joint military commands in Vietnam and Thailand on the deployment of military communication systems in the 1960’s.

Datuk is married with three grown children in the USA. His wife Marlene is an author of novels and reference books and a jewellery designer. Datuk wishes to make note that he climbed Mount Kinabalu in Sabah on his 70^th birthday.

Ms. Sakaya has 21 years of cumulative audit and tax experience from major accounting firms. Her audit experiences include auditing of medium to large multinational corporations. Currently, her primary role is advising corporations on International Assignment Management, International Assignment Solutions, Personal Tax matters, Employers' Statutory Obligations and Employee Stock Option Schemes. She holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hon) from University Malaya and MBA from University of Colorado. She is a member of Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia and she holds CPA Australia.

Sarah began her McDonald's career in 1991 in Toronto, Canada, and during her 20 years withthe company, has had 8 different assignments in 5 different countries – Canada, Russia,Turkey, Japan and Malaysia. Sarah spent 6 years as the Dean of Hamburger Marketing University and has made a major impact on the McDonald's business through Sales, Brand Growth and People.

Prior to joining McDonald's Malaysia, Sarah was the Senior Vice President of Business Development for McDonald's Japan, responsible for Marketing, Menu Management and New Business Strategy divisions. Throughout her career with McDonald's, Sarah has recorded some significant milestones. In 1995, she was a President's Award winner - an award accorded to the top global performers of the system. In 2001, she received the McDonald's Worldwide Marketing Achievement Award, and in 2007, McDonald's Japan's marketing team received the same award under her guidance. Sarah was also accorded the Charlie Bell award in May 2009, given in recognition of her exceptional leadership and outstanding performance.Under her watch, McDonald's Malaysia created a major milestone when it surpassed the RM1 billion mark in sales for the first time ever in 2010.

Paul assumed his position as Counselor for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur in late July 2010. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1988 and has served in Washington, London, Sao Paulo, Manila and Singapore. In Washington, he has worked on issues including non-proliferation, multilateral trade, international investment, anti-corruption, and international health affairs. Most recently, he served in a dual-hatted capacity advising the Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs, and the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, for whom he managed the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. In 2007-2008, he served as Director for G8 and G20 at the National Security Council. Mr. Brown is from south-central Texas, and is a 1985 graduate of Georgetown University's honors program in international business diplomacy.

Nasir Abbasi, a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service is the Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mr. Abbasi manages a 12-member team that is responsible for maintaining and increasing U.S. commercial interests and investments in Malaysia. Prior to this assignment, from 1997-2008, Mr. Abbasi served in U.S. Embassy positions throughout Saudi Arabia and Australia. Mr. Abbasi began his tenure with the U.S. Commercial Service in Baltimore, Maryland. Before joining the U.S. Commercial Service, Mr. Abbasi had five years of experience working in the private sector. He received his MBA in International Business from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Glendale, Arizona and his Bachelors Degree in Management from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Dato' Siew Hai (S.H.) Wong has had 29 years of working experience in the electronics industry. He retired from Intel after 27 years of service. His last position with Intel was Vice President of Technology and Manufacturing Group (TMG) and General Manager of Assembly and Test Manufacturing (ATM), responsible for all assembly test factories worldwide. He also served as the Vice President and Managing Director of Dell's Asia Pacific Customer Center for approximately 2 years.

Currently, he continued his active involvement in the electronics industry as the Chairman of MAEI and as a Governor of AMCHAM. In addition, he is on the Board of Directors of Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).  In his contribution to education, he sits on the Faculty Industrial Panel of the Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University and is a member of the Advisory Peer Group for the School of  Science and Technology of Wawasan Open University, Malaysia.  He is a member of the Penang Science Council and is leading the Nurturing Pillar. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn from 2001 to 2006 and as an executive committee member of investPenang from 2005 to March 2008. 

James Coffman arrived in Malaysia January 1st, 2008, to assume the directorship of the Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE). He has been involved in various dimensions of international higher education for thirty years, having spent most of his career in France, Algeria, Tunisia, Pakistan, the UAE, and most recently as Director of International Program Development at the University of California, Davis. A dual French and American citizen, he earned his B.A. from UC Berkeley, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. He and his wife, Chantal, are accompanied in Kuala Lumpur by their daughter, Olivia. They also have a son, Glenn, who is a student at UCLA. 

Stuart Dean is the CEO of GE ASEAN, Global Growth & Operations. Stuart started his career with GE in 1979, and has since held numerous positions in the products and services divisions. Prior to GE, he worked for the U.S. Government. Since 1991, he has been working in Asia for GE. Stuart also serves on the Asia Advisory Board for Junior Achievement and the boards of advisors for the Global GE Community Foundation and the US Indonesia Society. Stuart  holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard. He is an active GE Community volunteer and led several home building projects in Aceh following the Tsunami.

Atul Bhargava is the Managing Director of Intel Malaysia, and Site General Manager. He is responsible for managing the Penang and Kulim assembly/test facilities, systems manufacturing facilities, the design centers, supporting marketing functions, technology development and other support organizations. He joined Intel in 1984 as a package development engineer and has held various senior management positions at Intel spanning across manufacturing, product R&D, business unit operations and factory operations. Prior to this appointment, Atul was the General Manager for the latest state of the art Assembly and Test Microprocessor factory in Intel Kulim. Atul holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University and an Executive MBA from Thunderbird American Graduate School of International Management in Arizona.

Datuk Dr. Paddy Bowie is the Managing Director of Paddy Schubert Sdn Bhd, a public affairs and business consultancy firm providing strategic information, advisory services and political analysis to the corporate sector. Datuk Paddy also runs the Malaysia Regional Program for leading investors and brings out a range of publications. She is a Malaysian citizen of British extraction and has been in Malaysia for 53 years. Datuk Paddy was educated at Manchester and Oxford Universities in the U.K. She is a Fellow of the Malaysian Institute of Management, Institute of Public Relations, Malaysia and the Institute of Directors, U.K. Well known as a speaker and writer, she has addressed numerous international conferences.

May Lim is the founder and Managing Director of World Executive Search Sdn Bhd. Her firm specialises in senior level and board director searches for multinational companies, large corporations, non-profit organizations and government agencies. She has done extensive work in the financial services, manufacturing, retail and logistics sectors. She began her career with the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York and went on to work for Citibank in Manila and the Asian Development Bank headquartered in Manila. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College and a Masters of Science degree in Management from the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a Wellesley Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Mr. Hugh W. Thompson was appointed Director and Chairman of the ExxonMobil Subsidiaries in Malaysia in June 2009. A native of Scotland, he graduated from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland with a Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering. He joined ExxonMobil in 1988. Over the past 20 years he has held positions of increasing responsibility in assignments ranging from Engineering and Operations management, major project management and strategic business planning. He has spent the majority of his career in international assignments and has worked in Aberdeen and London as well as New Orleans, California and Houston. Prior to his assignment to Malaysia, Mr. Thompson was the Global Planning Manager for ExxonMobil Production Company.  Mr. Thompson and his wife Doreen have three children. He enjoys spending time with his family, tennis, skiing and traveling.

Mr. Wheeler currently serves as President and CEO of ConocoPhillips Malaysia, and has held this position since 2005. Before being posted to Malaysia, Mr. Wheeler held a number of management positions for ConocoPhillips in the United States and overseas.  Most recently, Mr. Wheeler held the position of Exploration and Development Vice President for ConocoPhillips Indonesia from August, 2002, where he oversaw the development of the company’s major Natuna Sea and South Sumatra projects, as well as the exploration and New Venture activities for the area. During this time, Mr. Wheeler was a member of ConocoPhillips’ Global Exploration Leadership Team, and had responsibility for the company’s exploration activities for the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Wheeler joined Conoco in 1980 in Houston, Texas, after receiving an MS with honors in geology from Washington State University. For undergraduate studies, Mr. Wheeler attended University of California, Berkeley and St. Lawrence University in New York. He and his wife Maureen have two daughters, Sarah and Alexandra, attending SMU in Dallas and ISKL, respectively.

Ellie leads a business organization in Malaysia with a portfolio of almost 30 Brands. 11 of these Brands are P&G’s Global Billion Dollar brands and most of them are in number 1 or 2 position in their category in Malaysia.

Ellie has strong experience in marketing having started her career in 1996 in the United States with well known brands like Kelloggs, Kodak and Gillette. She then joined Procter & Gamble in China as part of the Gillette acquisition in 2006. Her previous assignment before coming to Malaysia was as Managing Director of Male Grooming business in the Greater China region. Ellie creates history as she becomes the first woman to lead Procter & Gamble Malaysia since its establishment in the country in 1987.

Shanghai born and raised, Ellie continued her education in the United States at the University of Illinois graduating with MA in Economics in 1996. An avid yoga practitioner, she spends her personal time travelling, reading and in community work with her husband and 2 children.

In August 2010, Angel Choi was appointed Country Manager of Pfizer Malaysia/Brunei. Prior to Country Manager position (Malaysia/Brunei), Angel has 6 years of experiences as Senior Regional Marketing Director based in Hong Kong. In this position, she developed key strategic and brand management initiatives, and ensured alignment with the region, markets and key stakeholders. She has responsibility for Cardiovascular, Urology and Anti-Infectives franchise within the 6 years period. Angel began her career with Pfizer Hong Kong in 1996 as Medical Affairs Manager. She advanced through several positions within the organization, including product management, strategic planning, and new product planning, and she was Associate Marketing Director for Pfizer Hong Kong before she transferred to her regional role in 2004.

Angel is a member of the Board of the Pharmaceutical Association of Malaysia (PhAMA) and also the co-chair of the Policy Committee at PhAMA.

Angel holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Alberta, Canada, and a Master of Business Management from the University of Sydney. In 2005, she also obtained a Bachelor in Law from the University of London.

Pang Yee Beng serves as Advanced Systems Group Director for CSMB, covering Asia-Pacific & Japan and Managing Director of the Dell Cyberjaya site in Malaysia. Prior to this, Pang was the General Manager for Dell Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Under this portfolio, he was responsible for growing Dell’s business in the large and medium corporate segments as well as the government sector. Additionally, Pang’s charter was to provide strategic direction, management of the sales team and to
oversee effective execution in the delivery of high quality technologies and services to Dell’s customers in Malaysia.

Before joining Dell in September 2006, Pang served as Director, Enterprise and Partner, Microsoft Malaysia. During his three year tenure at Microsoft, Pang grew the Commercial Enterprise and Public Sector business significantly. In addition, he served in several key leadership positions in 3Com where his responsibility extended to markets outside Malaysia including Hong Kong and India in the region. An 18-year veteran in the IT industry, Pang began his career as a Systems Engineer in Mesiniaga, one of the earliest and most successful public-listed local IT companies focused on providing IBM solutions.Pang holds a Computer Science degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang.

Akhil Chandra is currently the Vice President & General Manager of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare International Asia. His flagship includes Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand markets.

His career began in GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare in India in 1989 as a Management Trainee upon graduating from Business School. He brings with him more than 20 years of working experience in GlaxoSmithKline and its companies across diverse range of markets from India to UK including Asia and Sri Lanka.  His experience ranges from Director of Global Category Management, Regional Director Market Research and as Managing Director/General Manager for Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Asia and now Asia.

Currently he is based in Malaysia and is on the Board of Director to Phama Association Malaysia.  In addition he is also the Chairman of OTC Chapter of Phama organization.   Akhil holds an M.B.A from a Premier Indian Business Management Institute and he’s also the holder of a Masters Degree in Economics.

Mr. Cokkinias began his career in hospitality in 1995, and joined The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in May 2000 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where he joined Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall as pre-opening Front Office Manager at the 427-room resort. From there he was quickly promoted to Director of Housekeeping, overseeing the 100+ member team that maintained the resort and golf
operations. Mr. Cokkinias moved back to his home country where he took on the job of Assistant Rooms Executive at the 396-room Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa in Los Angeles, California in May 2002. In January 2003, he decided it was time to move East and set sail for Malaysia when he transferred to The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur as Executive Assistant Manager, Rooms Division.
Within a year he was promoted General Manager, and at the age of 29, was the youngest General Manager of any Ritz-Carlton worldwide.

Mr. Cokkinias hails from Connecticut, USA. A former semi-professional beach volleyball player and still avid motorcyclist, he has overseen the development of The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur over the past 8 years, including the opening of the Spa Village Kuala Lumpur, the hotels 25-room Conference Center, and the 114 unit all-suites tower. During his tenure, the hotel has received numerous awards, including the Best Employer in Malaysia for the fourth time in a row, and has been recognized as one of the top-5 all butler hotels in the world. Mr. Cokkinias has been recognized by the Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards as Malaysia’s General Manager of the Year in 2010. He currently sits on the Steering Committee of the Overseas Security Advisory Council. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in Virginia in 1995, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in both History and Sociology.