Dato’ Azman joined MMC Port Holdings Sdn Bhd on 2 November 2015 and was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Northport (Malaysia) Bhd (“Northport”), on 16th February 2016. Northport, which is a member of MMC Group, is the operator of two terminals in Port Klang, which are Northport and Southpoint. Dato’ Azman is also the Chairman of Port Klang Cruise Terminal, a subsidiary of Northport.
Dato’ Azman holds a Bachelor of Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE), United Kingdom. He also attended the “Macroeconomic Policy and Management” Executive Program at the Harvard University, USA in 1996.
Dato’ Azman began his career with the Central Bank of Malaysia in 1992, served Danaharta during the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis and subsequently worked for companies involved in property development, real estate investment trust, hotel management, media/radio broadcasting, information technology and port management.
In 1992, Dato’ Azman was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Integrax Berhad, a public listed company which owns and operates Lekir Bulk Terminal in Perak, a position he held for four years prior to joining the MMC Group.
Dato’ Azman plays an active role in the industry and community associations. He currently holds the position of President of the London School of Economics Alumni Society of Malaysia (LSEASM), Vice President of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI), Deputy Treasurer and Council Member of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) and Executive Council member of the Malaysian Biomass Industries Confederation (MBIC).
During his tenure as the Chief Executive Officer, Northport has been awarded the Best Seaport by the Ministry of Transport in 2016 and 2017; National Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) Award 2019 for Business Services Category; Best Port Safety Management Award by the Ministry of Transportation Malaysia 2021 and the International Association of Ports and Harbors (“IAPH”) 2022 Sustainability Award under the Health Safety and Security category at the IAPH 2022 World Ports Conference Vancouver, Canada. Northport is also the first port in Malaysia to receive the ISO 45001:2018 for Occupational Safety and Health accreditation in 2019 and the ISO 37001:2016 Anti-Bribery Management System (ABMS) in 2021. Another highlight was in November 2022 when Northport recorded a clean sweep of the National Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) 2020/2021 Awards by winning 3 awards in the Business Services category, the Mentor-Mentee Award category and the CEO of the Year (Private Sector) Award category.
In January 2023, Northport won the Gold Award for Integrity, Governance and Anti-Corruption Awards (AIGA) 2022 which was awarded by the Malaysian Institute of Integrity, whilst in May 2023, Northport was awarded the International Safety Awards 2023 (Merit) by the British Safety Council. In October 2023, Port Klang Authority, Northport and Westports were recognised collectively when they were awarded the APEC Port Services Network (ASPN) Green Port in Bangkok. In addition to the above accolades, Northport was a recipient of the Anugerah Perdana for Penarafan Bintang Sasaran Penting (“APBSP”) 2023 under the Key Point II category in November 2023, being the most exemplary protective security governance system within Malaysia’s critical infrastructure installations and this reflects Northport’s dedication in achieving excellence in security management.
Another notable award was attained in February 2024 when Northport won the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Practitioner with Best Integrity award during the Integrity Governance and Anti-Corruption Awards (AIGA) 2022 organised by the Malaysian Institute of Integrity. Northport became the first ever winner of this award which was presented by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) which recognises the commitment shown in practicing integrity and good governance culture within an organisation.
Over the years under Dato’ Azman’s stewardship, Northport achieved many record-breaking performances, including handling a record volume of 3.32 million TEUs in 2021 for container handling and 11.41 million FWTs in 2023 for the conventional cargo segment, while achieving its best-ever HSE performance during the COVID-19 pandemic years. These achievements were made possible due to Northport’s continuous improvement initiatives through “Reinventing Northport” with the objective to be a “Safer, Greener, Smarter and Better” port.