KUALA LUMPUR, 25 April 2024 – The Board of Directors of HEINEKEN Malaysia is pleased to announce that Mr Martijn Rene van Keulen has been nominated as the successor for Mr Roland Bala who will be taking up the position of Managing Director of Multi Bintang Indonesia effective 1 July 2024. Roland will also relinquish his directorships in all subsidiary companies of HEINEKEN Malaysia with effect from the same day.
Roland Bala has been Managing Director of HEINEKEN Malaysia since September 2018. Under his leadership, HEINEKEN Malaysia Group has grown its business in a very challenging environment and delivered a record performance for year 2022. Roland has successfully boosted the performance of the Group leveraging the HEINEKEN Global EverGreen strategy with a focus on meeting the needs of the consumers and customers by ensuring effective commercial execution, driving sales transformation, improving cost efficiency and uplifting the sustainability initiatives.
Roland and his team have also fostered a culture of One Strong Winning Team in HEINEKEN Malaysia, promoting high performance and inclusive leadership within the organisation. With over 50% of the extended Leadership Team comprised of women, HEINEKEN Malaysia has become a leading exporter of talent for the HEINEKEN Asia Pacific region, reflecting the Company’s commitment to diversity and talent development.
Over the past five years, Roland has dealt with major challenges arising from the brewery lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and implemented various key initiatives including the setting-up of e-commerce platforms from B2B to B2C, re-organisation of the sales structure and the brewery upgrades.
Mr Martijn Rene van Keulen, a Dutch, is currently the Managing Director of HEINEKEN Myanmar, where he led his team to drive an ambitious transformation agenda and successfully delivered strong performance despite extremely challenging times facing the Company. Prior to HEINEKEN Myanmar, Martijn was the Managing Director of Grande Brasserie de Nouvelle-Caledonie, a producer and distributor of beers and non-alcoholic drinks in New Caledonia (September 2018 to June 2020). He was the General Manager of HEINEKEN Kirin Japan (September 2015 to August 2018) and the Account Director for Modern Trade and Convenience at HEINEKEN Netherlands for five years (November 2010 to August 2015). Martijn joined HEINEKEN International in 2000 and held various Commercial positions before taking on the role as Global Account Manager for the HEINEKEN Global Duty Free and Travel Retail business where he spent four years.
Mr Martijn Rene van Keulen will succeed Mr Roland Bala who will continue to serve the Company until he hands over his position as the Managing Director of HEINEKEN Malaysia on 1 July 2024. The Board wishes to congratulate Roland on his new assignment and thank him for his outstanding service and significant contributions to the Group.
