JOHOR BARU - The Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) board of directors has accepted its chief executive officer's resignation.

Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman confirmed Harun Johari's resignation yesterday, and said the decision was made at the board meeting in Putrajaya last Thursday.

Harun's resignation will take effect on January 1, and he will be succeeded by Ismail Ibrahim, who is director of the National Physical Planning Division under the Urban and Rural Planning Department.

The IRDA board meeting last week was chaired by Prime Minister and board chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said Ghani after closing the Johor Komuniti Bestari (smart community) convention at the New York hotel here yesterday.

Ghani said Ismail was one of those involved in the inception of the South Johor Economic Region, which was the previous name of Iskandar Malaysia.

Asked whether Ismail's name was selected from a list of candidates, Ghani only said that the IRDA board had agreed on Ismail's appointment.

"Harun would continue to hold his post in the meantime," he added.

Harun took over the helm of IRDA from Datuk Ikmal Hijaz Hashim in March.

He was previously the CEO of Port of Tanjung Pelepas since 2005 after being in the Shell Group of Companies for almost 28 years. In 1999, he was the vice-president of a global business unit of Shell overseeing 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.