SIONG GUAN LIM

Siong Guan LIM was appointed Group President of GIC in September 2007. The GIC manages the financial reserves of the Singapore government.

He was Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board from October 2006 to June 2009. The Board is the Singapore government’s lead agency for planning and executing strategies to enhance Singapore’s position as a global business centre. Much of its work is attracting international corporations to set up manufacturing and services activities in Singapore as critical links in the global supply chain. He has been an Adjunct Professor in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore since 2005, instructing on leadership and change management, as well as a Senior Fellow of the Civil Service College since 2006.

Siong Guan was the Head of the Singapore Civil Service from September 1999 to March 2005. He has been the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence (1981-1994), the Prime Minister’s Office (1994-1998), the Ministry of Education (1997-1999) and the Ministry of Finance (1999-2006). In every appointment he introduced innovative policies and practices which enhanced the drive, capacity, capability and performance of the organization.

He has chaired the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (2004-2006), the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (2004-2006) and, the Central Provident Fund Board (1986-1994) and has been a board member of many companies including Temasek, the other sovereign wealth fund manager of Singapore.

Siong Guan has co-authored with Joanne H. Lim the book “The Leader, The Teacher & You – Leadership Through the Third Generation,” a book on leadership and governance. He is a member of the SwissRe Advisory Panel and of the International Board of the stars Foundation, a Swiss foundation that promotes leadership development for leaders of the next generation.

JOANNE H. LIM

Joanne H. LIM is the Founder and Creative Director of The Right PerspectiveSG (www.TheRightPerspective.com.sg), a consultancy specialising in writing, presentations, strategic communications, and collateral design for individuals, businesses, and institutions. The Right PerspectiveSG works closely with its clients to enable their success by creating the right perspective in the minds of their stakeholders through sharp strategy, measured messaging, innovative initiatives, and detailed design.

Following high school, where she authored her school’s creed, “Live with Passion, Serve with Compassion”, Joanne was awarded a full scholarship to pursue an undergraduate degree at Princeton University, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Policy, and a certificate in East Asian Studies. During her time at Princeton, Joanne was awarded the President’s Prize and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society for outstanding academic excellence.

After graduating from Princeton, Joanne worked at PSA International Pte Ltd (PSA), one of the world’s leading port operators, for six years. At PSA, Joanne worked closely with Senior Management on strategic projects, and honed her skills in external and internal communications, branding, strategic events management, as well as collateral design and production.

Following PSA, Joanne was awarded a merit scholarship to pursue a Masters in Wealth Management at the Singapore Management University, where she graduated among the top five of her class and was awarded the Portcullis Wealth Management Prize. After attaining her Masters, Joanne worked at Goldman Sachs and UBS AG, before joining the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

At EDB, Joanne worked extensively with leading companies in the areas of luxury fashion, luxury watches, fashion accessories, furniture, and toys. She solely helmed the logo design as well as the development of promotional collateral for a national visual arts project.