YILPORT HOLDING APPOINTS IAN JAMES AS NEW COO
Yilport Holding, a Yildirim Group subsidiary, announced today the appointment of Mr. Ian James as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective March 2, 2020.
Before joining Yilport, Ian James was the Group CEO of MMC Ports, Malaysia’s largest port group where he oversaw 5 terminals in Malaysia. In addition to his executive position, Mr. James held directorships in all the companies under his purview at MMC Ports.
Mr. James has in-depth knowledge of terminal operations and the wider transportation sector, having held senior roles in liner shipping companies namely United Arab Shipping Company as well as the logistic company DB Schenker. Ian James is a master mariner and has a Master of Science (MSc) in International Transport from the University of Wales College of Cardiff.
In his new role, Mr. James will be leading, managing and developing improved synergies across Yilport terminals and will focus on operational excellence and delivering the highest levels of customer service.
“I am excited to be included in this ongoing and exciting journey with Yilport with ambitions to be in the top 10 global container terminal operators by 2025 under the vision of Robert Yuksel Yildirim. The challenge to become an invaluable member of one of the fastest growing port groups in the world was something I could not turn down. Our business is all about delivering customer values. We must strive to be the terminal of choice among all our customers whilst striving to deliver the required returns to our shareholders,” Ian James said about his new position.
Mr. James will directly report to Robert Yuksel Yildirim, Chairman and interim CEO of Yilport Holding. Mr. Yildirim wanted to give some additional color on this management change, and made the following remarks:
“I would like to welcome Mr. Ian James to the Yilport team. Yilport is focused on its target to rank among top 10 international container terminal operators by 2025. We published our growth strategy and 5-year business plan for 2020-2025, and Mr. James will have a key role in our operations to reach our strategic goals. Under Mr. James, Yilport operations will prioritize efficiency and productivity increase across our current portfolio of 22 terminals in 10 countries. We are looking forward to grow throughput volumes with our unique process excellence methods, and enlarge some of our terminals to elevate their annual handling capacities. 2020 will be the year of organic growth, expansion, and modernization at Yilport terminals. We place emphasis on value-added projects and state-of-the-art equipment in order to boost productivity and increase customer satisfaction.”