Eight new members join Singapore Business Federation Council

EIGHT fresh faces have joined the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) Council at its annual general meeting on June 28.

Among them are three new elected members: Chong Ee Rong, the group managing director of Ogilvy Singapore; Andrew Kwan, managing director of Swiss-Bake Pte Ltd and Ron Sim, chief executive officer of OSIM International Pte Ltd.

Roland Ng, president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Jonathan Asherson, chairman, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce; Ramasamy Dhinakaran, president of the Singapore Retailers Association and Takuhiko Tochiori, the immediate past president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Singapore have joined as new members representing trade associations and chambers.

Also new to the SBF Council as a co-opted member is Foo Mee Har, chief executive of the Wealth Management Institute at Nanyang Technological University.

"I look forward to working closely with the newly appointed SBF Council to effect change through the newly formed SBF Committees and the TAC Alliance", SBF chairman SS Teo said. He was re-elected for his third consecutive two-year term in a Council meeting following the AGM.

He also thanked outgoing Council members, who are: Gautam Banerjee, chairman of Blackstone Singapore Pte Ltd; Thomas Chua, immediate past president, Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Shabbir H Hassanbhai, director, Indo Straits Trading Co (Pte) Ltd; Lawrence Leow, executive chairman, Crescendas Pte Ltd; Olivia Lum, executive chairman and group CEO, Hyflux; Rolf Gerber, immediate past chairman, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce; Takuya Okada, past president, Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Singapore; and Andrew Tjioe, president adviser, Restaurant Association of Singapore.

Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and Industry, said: "I would like to congratulate SBF on the appointment of its new Council for 2018-2020. SBF plays a critical role as Singapore's apex business chamber, not only in advancing the interests of the business community, but also in supporting our companies and trade associations and chambers (TACs) in their growth and transformation, through tangible and concrete projects. The government looks forward to working closely with the new SBF Council in further uplifting the business community as we prepare for the future economy."

Amendment note: A previous version of this article said that Chong Ee Rong is the group managing director of Ogilvy & Mather Singapore Pte Ltd. This was taken off a press release by the Singapore Business Federation. Ogilvy has since clarified that following a rebranding, the company is now known as Ogilvy Singapore.