Founding Patron
The Institute is honoured to have Mr George Yeo, former Minister for Trade and Industry and for Foreign Affairs, as our founding patron. Mr Yeo facilitated the establishment of the Institute in 2006 as a premier research institution focusing on socioeconomic development of Asia and the competitiveness of nations.
Founding Patron:
Mr George Yeo
Visiting Scholar, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore
George Yeo joined Kerry Group on 1 Jan 2012. He was Chairman of Kerry Logistics Network from 1 Aug 2012 to 31 May 2019 and a Director of Kerry Holdings from 1 July 2016 to 31 May 2019. Mr Yeo became Senior Adviser to both Kuok Group and Kerry Logistics Network from 1 June 2019.
From September 1988 to May 2011, he served 23 years in Government, and was Minister for Information and the Arts, Health, Trade & Industry, and Foreign Affairs.
Mr Yeo studied Engineering at Cambridge University on a President’s Scholarship, graduating with a Double First in 1976, and became a Signals Officer in the Singapore Armed Forces. After graduating from the Singapore Command and Staff College in 1979, he was posted to the Republic of Singapore Air Force. He graduated with an MBA (Baker Scholar) from the Harvard Business School in 1985. He was appointed Chief-of-Staff of the Air Staff (1985-1986) and Director of Joint Operations and Planning in the Defence Ministry (1985-1988), attaining the rank of Brigadier-General.
Mr Yeo is a member of the Board of Trustees of Berggruen Institute on Governance, International Advisory Panel of Peking University, International Advisory Board of IESE Business School, International Advisory Council of China's Eco Forum Global Guiyang, International Advisory Board of Japan's National Graduate School for International Policy Studies (GRIPS), International Advisory Committee of Mitsubishi Corporation and the Board of Governors of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation. Mr Yeo is an Independent Non-Executive Director of AIA Group, a public company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He is also an independent board member of Pinduoduo, an e-commerce company newly listed on NASDAQ and the New Yangon Development Corporation. He is a strategic non-business advisor to Sea Ltd and senior advisor to Brunswick for its geopolitical initiative. He was Chairman of the Singapore Summit from 2011 to 2016.
Mr Yeo served as a Member of the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See from 2013-2014. From February 2014, he became a Member of the Vatican Council for the Economy.
Mr Yeo is Patron of LASALLE College of the Arts and the Eurasian Association, and Advisor to the Sun Yat-Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall. He is a Visiting Scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Founding Patron of its Asia Competitiveness Institute.