Mr Lim Neo Chian to Succeed Mr Koh Soo Keong as Chairman of Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority

Mar 31, 2016

With effect from 1 April 2016, Mr Lim Neo Chian will be appointed Chairman of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) Board for a two-year term. Mr Lim is currently Deputy Chairman of the Board.

Mr Lim, who is Chairman of Ascendas Hospitality Trust Management Pte Ltd and Deputy Chairman of Gardens by the Bay Company Ltd, brings to AVA invaluable experience from his career in the military, public and private sectors. He previously headed the Singapore Tourism Board, ST Engineering, and JTC Corporation. He was also the Chief of Army from 1992 to 1995.

Mr Lim succeeds Mr Koh Soo Keong, who has served on the AVA Board for fourteen years. Mr Koh, who is Managing Director of EcoSave Pte Ltd, was AVA Chairman from 1st April 2008 – 31st March 2016. He was also an AVA Board Member from 2000-2004, and Deputy Chairman from 2006-2008.

Mr Koh helped AVA grow as an organisation, to better address its varied responsibilities in safe food supply, animal and plant health, animal welfare and management, and agri-trade facilitation. Under Mr Koh’s guidance, AVA strengthened food security for Singapore, including raising local farm productivity and ramping-up agricultural R&D and innovation. He also spurred AVA to embrace private sector partnerships, and a robust risk management- and science-based approach to grow and diversify our overseas food sources while upholding food safety standards.

Mr Koh strongly believes in engaging stakeholders and the community. He has steered AVA to be more pro-enterprise as well as collaborative in engaging the various industry segments it regulates.

MND and AVA wish to express our appreciation to Mr Koh for his distinguished service with AVA. We also warmly welcome Mr Lim as the new Chairman of the Board. On his new appointment, Mr Lim said, “I am honoured to take on the Chairmanship of AVA. Moving ahead, our agri-food and veterinary ecosystem faces both emerging opportunities, as well as challenges. Working closely with the various stakeholders, we can now harness technological advances to find new solutions to our food supply and safety. I look forward to building on Mr Koh’s dedicated work with AVA, and to guiding the AVA team to further advance its contributions to Singapore.”

The complete list of AVA Board Members with effect from 1st April 2016 is shown at the Annex.