SIA Engineering’s Lim Sim Seng to chair new Skills and Workforce Development Agency

[SINGAPORE] The Ministry of Manpower on Wednesday (Jun 24) announced the inaugural board for the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA), a newly established statutory board.

The SWDA will officially launch on Jul 1, marking the merger of SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore.

Taking the helm as the agency’s board chairman is Lim Sim Seng, who joins with a 42-year career background spanning the commercial and public sectors.

He brings significant financial and management expertise to the new statutory board, having previously served as the DBS Singapore country head and the group head for DBS group consumer banking and wealth management.

Lim formerly served as the chairman at the Singapore Land Authority from Aug 2014 to Aug 2020, and also the chairman of the Building and Construction Authority from Sep 2020 to Mar 2025.

He currently serves as the deputy chairman of SIA Engineering and the Singapore High Commissioner (non-resident) to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Lim will be supported by 11 other board members representing local enterprises, multinational corporations, the public sector and tripartite partners. This will ensure the SWDA remains closely attuned to the shifting needs of both employers and workers.

Among the notable private sector leaders joining him, is Rachel Lim – co-founder of the fashion brand Love, Bonito. She is also the founder of the media platform RachReflects and serves as a board member for the non-profit organisation Room to Read.

The other private sector and industry leaders appointed to the board include:

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• Dr Bikramjit Singh Bhangu, operating partner at Temasek International and council member of the Singapore National Employers Federation
• Eleanor Seet, president and head of Asia ex-Japan at Amova Asset Management
• Low Soon Teck, managing director and CEO of Kuok Maritime Group
• Shariq Barmaky, country managing partner of Deloitte Singapore
• Wong Wai Meng, CEO (data centres) of Keppel’s data centres and networks division

Board members from Singapore’s tripartite partners and public service agencies are:

• Cham Hui Fong, deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress
• Chong Yiun Lin, deputy secretary (higher education and skills) at the Ministry of Education
• Kenny Tan, deputy secretary (Workforce) at the Ministry of Manpower
• Zhang Weijie, senior director (digital economy office) and director, industry (national AI group) at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information

Dilys Boey will also join the team as CEO. Prior to this, she was the deputy CEO (industry clusters) at Enterprise Singapore.

The inaugural SWDA Board will serve a two-year term from Jul 1, 2026, to Jun 30, 2028.