Ng Wai Choong to helm Energy Market Authority from April

A NEW chief executive (CEO) will helm the Energy Market Authority (EMA) from April 1.

Ng Wai Choong, who is currently the deputy secretary (policy) at the Ministry of Finance (MOF), will take over from Chee Hong Tat, who was appointed as second permanent secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) last December.

In a statement released on Friday, MTI welcomed Mr Ng to his new role, adding that his experience in various leadership roles in the civil service has equipped him well "to lead and drive EMA in developing a dynamic energy sector in Singapore".

Mr Ng has been with MOF since 2007 and was involved in developing many key fiscal initiatives including the Resilience Package, Quality Growth Programme, Pioneer Generation Package, Progressive Property Tax structure and GST Voucher.

He also co-led the secretariat for the Economic Strategies Committee in 2009.

From April 2004 to March 2007, Mr Ng served as the deputy secretary (industry) at MTI, where he played a key role in setting up the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS), the formulation of the Enterprise 2015 Masterplan and the launch of the Technology Innovation Programme for the provision of research and development assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Before that, from January 2005 to April 2006, the Monbusho scholar was concurrently the CEO of CCS, where he spearheaded the development of competition regulation and training programmes to build up CCS's capabilities.

The University of Tokyo graduate started his career in public service at MOF in 1991, and was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) and the Long Service Medal in 2006 and 2014, respectively.