Left: Rodrigo Ribeiro de Araújo, Right: Leonardo Paiva

MANJUNG, November 1 – Vale, one of the world’s leading mining companies today announced the appointment of Leonardo Paiva as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of its Malaysian subsidiary, Vale Malaysia Minerals Sdn. Bhd. (“Vale in Malaysia”).

With 22 years of experience in Vale, Leonardo has a track record of steering transformation in the areas of port transformation and logistics. Leonardo’s experience culminated in his most recent role as the Mining Executive Manager at the Parapoeba Complex, Brazil; one of Vale’s major mines in the southern region of Brazil.

Leonardo is taking over the leadership role in Malaysia from Rodrigo Ribeiro de Araújo. Appointed as Vale in Malaysia CEO in 2019, Rodrigo is instrumental in the safe recovery of Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal (TRMT)’s operations during the pandemic, and the successful roll-out of various automation technologies in the port, including the world’s third fully-automated grab ship unloader.

Aligned with Vale’s renewed purpose in all countries where it operates, Rodrigo also oversaw the delivery of the MYR2.0 million ‘Vale Bersama Manjung’ pandemic recovery program for the communities living in Manjung. Recently, he announced a MYR5.0 million investment to upgrade Vale Eco Center (VEC) to become one of the leading ecotourism hubs in Perak.

“Vale is committed to a sustainable and viable presence in Malaysia, and we look forward to building upon the progress we have made with the local communities and institutions since we began our presence in Perak a decade ago,” Leonardo says.

“Safety and reliability will continue to be our focus, as it has always been”.

Designed to handle up to 30 million tonnes of iron ore, TRMT is the largest single foreign direct investment (FDI) in the state of Perak. The terminal, which began its operations in 2014, is run by a workforce made up of 97 percent Malaysian; over 60 percent from Manjung.

“In 2019, 90 percent of our workforce were Malaysia. Today, the figure is 97 percent. I assure you that developing local talents and empowering them to be an integral part of Vale’s dynamic global talent community will continue to be our priority moving forward,” Leonardo concludes.