KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 1): The next person to lead Khazanah Nasional Bhd as managing director should be a professional who is not politically active, and who has a proven record in management, said the sovereign wealth fund’s former managing director Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim.

“He must be a leader who can inspire his team to do their best,” he told theedgemarkets.com over the phone. Mohd Sheriff served as Khazanah MD from 1994 to 2003, after serving as the Treasury secretary-general for three years. He is currently advisor to the G25 group of eminent Malays, where he is a founding member.

Earlier today, he issued a statement commending Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar's leadership during his 14-year tenure in Khazanah as its MD. Azman clocked out for the last time yesterday from Khazanah's office after his resignation, together with his entire 8-person board. The en masse resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.  

Below is Mohd Sheriff's statement in full:

TS Azman Mokhtar leaves Khazanah with all my respect and admiration for his management skills and leadership as MD/CEO, after he took over from me in 2003. 

As I have said before, despite all the negative comments in the media regarding some investments, the fundamental truth is that he has led Khazanah to become a respectable institution as the national wealth fund. 

He leaves behind a financially strong MoF Inc (Minister of Finance Inc) with a healthy net positive value, thanks to the reforms he initiated under the GLC Transformation Programme to ensure high standards of corporate governance in the companies that come under the Khazanah Group. 

He also had the strategic mind to navigate Khazanah through all the headwinds, both local and global, to keep the ship sailing through the storms, especially after the global financial crisis which affected Khazanah as much as it affected other investment funds and corporations in the region and in the world. 

He recruited top notch professionals and graduates from the best universities to be in his team. They sit on my PLUS Board too. Extremely bright and productive, they get good decisions made in the board rooms and management of Khazanah-owned companies. 

Khazanah also contributes a lot to national knowledge by bringing high profile experts and leading thinkers from around the world to speak at its highly popular forums — The Khazanah Megatrends. 

TS Azman is a great believer in talent development. He spared no effort to get Khazanah involved in education and training for society. Its sholarship programme is highly regarded for its elite value.
 
I wish him well in his future life and hope the government will make use of his extraordinary talent for the benefit of the country.

Mohd Sheriff