This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 21, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director (MD) Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar has had his contract extended for three more years, from June 1, 2016 to May 31, 2019.

In a statement yesterday, Khazanah, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said its board of directors had approved to extend the employment contract of Azman at a meeting on Saturday.

Azman, 54, has been with the investment holding arm of the Malaysian government since June 1, 2004.

During his leadership tenure, the company reported a 10-year cumulative pre-tax profit of RM22.33 billion at the end of 2014.

The net asset value of Khazanah’s investment also increased 9.2% to RM110.8 billion at the end of 2014 from RM101.5 billion a year earlier, bolstered by a RM3.9 billion gain from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s share sale.

Under Azman’s tenure, Khazanah divested its 32.2% stake in national postal company, Pos Malaysia Bhd, to DRB-Hicom Bhd, owned by tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary, for RM622.79 million or RM3.60 per share in 2011.

Khazanah also sold its 42.7% stake in national carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd to conglomerate DRB-Hicom for RM1.29 billion or RM5.50 per Proton share the following year, as part of the government’s strategy to boost liquidity in the local stock market and monetise assets.

It was also during Azman’s tenure that Khazanah in August 2011 sought to undertake a controversial share-swap deal between Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS), in which Khazanah was its largest shareholder with a 69.37% stake, and low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd. However, this was later scrapped amid political pressure and protests from the workers’ union at MAS.

Last year, Khazanah bought the rest of MAS in a bid to save the ailing national carrier. In December 2014, it delisted MAS and revealed another turnaround plan involving RM6 billion in funding, 6,000 job cuts and less routes. It also transferred all operations, including assets and liabilities, to a new company called Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB), with an aim that the airline regains profitability by the end of 2017 and relists by 2020.

Azman is also the chairman of Iskandar Investment Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd and holds various board memberships including Yayasan Khazanah and Jadwa Investment of Saudi Arabia. He serves on various public service bodies including the Performance Management and Delivery Unit, executive committee of Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre and Governance Council of Agensi Inovasi Malaysia.

Formerly, he was the MD and co-founder of BinaFikir Sdn Bhd, and director and head of country research at Salomon Smith Barney Malaysia and Union Bank of Switzerland in Malaysia. Azman also previously served in various capacities with Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

Today, some of the key listed companies in Khazanah’s investment portfolio include Telekom Malaysia Bhd, TNB, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, IHH Healthcare Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and UEM Sunrise Bhd.