TAN Kong Hwee, executive vice-president of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), will assume the role of chief executive at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) on March 1. He will succeed Rena Lee, who has served as Ipos CEO since August 2020 and now take on a full-time role at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Singapore’s Ambassador for International Law. Tan will officially become CEO-designate of Ipos on February 10, ahead of his formal appointment in March.
His move is the latest leadership shake-up at the EDB. The statutory board announced in November 2024 that managing director Jacqueline Poh will be stepping down to join the Ministry of Trade and Industry as deputy secretary for industry. Poh will be succeeded by Jermaine Loy, currently the principal private secretary to Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Loy will take up his new role on Mar 1.
In a statement, the Ministry of Law credited Ipos’ Lee for elevating Singapore’s position as a global intellectual property (IP) and intangible assets hub during her term.It noted that Lee and her team drove the implementation of the Singapore IP Strategy 2030 to support enterprises and the wider innovation community.
She also pushed significant legislative and policy reforms to the IP regime, and engaged with IP offices across the world on issues such as artificial intelligence, on top of leading Singapore’s delegations in treaty negotiations, the ministry added.
Under her leadership, Singapore maintained its position as the most innovative country in the South-east Asia, East Asia and Oceania region in the Global Innovation Index, the statement noted. The Republic also achieved its highest global ranking in a decade, ranking fourth globally.
Tan is currently a member of EDB’s executive committee and serves as the executive vice president, overseeing the global enterprises and marketing group. He began his career at the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2002 before joining EDB’s Infocomm and media division in 2006, with subsequent job postings in Japan and Europe.
Commenting on Tan’s appointment, Stanley Lai, chairman of Ipos’ board of directors, said: “We look forward to working with him and the management of Ipos to take the mission and regulation of intellectual property to new heights,both nationally and internationally”.