Johari Abdul Ghani

Born and raised in the poor area of Kampung Pandan, Kuala Lumpur in 1964, Johari received his primary school education at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Kampung Pandan (now known as SRK Tun Hussein Onn)[2] from 1971 to 1976 and pursued his studies at Sekolah Menengah Aminuddin Baki[3] in Kampung Pandan from 1977 until 1981. He continued his tertiary education at Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM),[4] Shah Alam from 1982 until 1985 and obtained his Diploma in Accounting. He then furthered his accounting studies in the UK, which qualified him for membership to the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants in 1988 and awarded Fellowship of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants in 1993.

Johari started his career at an international accounting firm, Peat Marwick & Co. (now known as KPMG)[5] as an auditor. Johari was active in the corporate world for more than 25 years. He held several senior positions including Group Managing Director and Chairman in several companies, both listed and unlisted in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. He also held positions as Managing Directors of companies involved in the fast food industries, manufacturing and agriculture.

Johari is active in various social and community services. He was appointed Chairman of ‘Jawatankuasa Pemakanan Negara’ at the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry. He was also a member of ‘Lembaga Pelawat Hospital Kuala Lumpur’ and member of ‘Jawatankuasa Badan Amal & Aduan Rakyat Wilayah Persekutuan’.

Johari sits on the Malaysia Economic Council.[6] The council, which is chaired by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, is responsible, among others, to formulate strategies to sustain the economic growth of Malaysia through foreign direct investment and domestic investments for the country and to monitor and analyze trends in the development of both global and domestic economy in order to formulate specific actions to spur the Malaysian economic growth.

Johari was also a member of the Board of Directors of Khazanah Nasional Berhad,[7] the sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Malaysia. He is also the Chairman of the Langkawi Development Authority (LADA),[8] a government agency responsible for the development of the Langkawi Island as an international tourist destination. Johari was formerly the Chairman of UDA Holdings Berhad, a government linked company that is involved in urban development. Datuk Seri Johari is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera,[9] the parent company of Permodalan Nasional Berhad which manages more than RM250 billion unit trust funds in Malaysia. Johari is active in the Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputera (YPPB)[10] where he serves on the Board of Trustees. The YPPB is a strategic unit under the Prime Minister's Office established to strengthen Bumiputeras’ capability and expertise in the economy and education.

He is a founder and currently the Chairman of Yayasan Bena Nusa and a Board Member of the Yayasan Pendidikan Titiwangsa, both of which were established to help to reduce urban poverty and improve educational outcomes for children of the urban poor.[11]

Johari has been active in politics for more than 24 years since 1988. He has held various positions in UMNO and BN of Titiwangsa. In June 2010, he was made the Acting Chief of UMNO's Division of Titiwangsa and appointed as Barisan Nasional Coordinating Chairman for the Titiwangsa parliamentary constituency. Concerned with community issues raised by the Titiwangsa Parliament, he took the initiative to establish a Community Service Center in Titiwangsa in July 2010 to assist in addressing and resolving these issues. Amongst the major concerns of the Titiwangsa Parliament community were poverty, squatters’ settlement, infrastructure, vendors and others. The Community Service Center operated on Mondays to Fridays from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.

During the 2013 general election, he was chosen to contest and won the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat[12] and on 27 July 2015, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Finance.[13] Following a cabinet reshuffle on 27 June 2016, Johari was appointed as the Minister of Finance II.[14]

However, in the 2018 general election, Johari failed to retain the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat,[15] losing by a 4,139-vote majority to Rina Harun, the Woman's Chief of the PPBM, a component party of Pakatan Harapan.

In recognition of his efforts in the areas of community, social, politics, corporate and business, he was conferred the Darjah Kebesaran Negeri Selangor (D.S.I.S) by Sultan Idris Shah of Selangor Sultan Sharifuddin which carries the title Dato’ in 2003. In 2005, he was conferred the Darjah Kebesaran Persekutuan Panglima Jasa Negara (P.J.N.) by the Agong XII Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail which carries the title Datuk. On 1 February 2017 he was conferred with Darjah Seri Mahkota Wilayah (S.M.W.) by the Agong XV Sultan Muhammad V which carries the title Datuk Seri.[20]