The Board of Directors is entrusted with the responsibility for the overall management of GIL. It comprises the following Directors:

Mr Boon Swan Foo

Chairman, Non-Executive, Non-independent Director

Mr Boon Swan Foo was appointed as Manager Nominated Director and Chairman on 25 November 2009 and subsequently became Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Company on 20 December 2011.

Mr Boon is the Executive Chairman of Singapore Consortium Investment Management Limited (SICIM). Mr Boon is also a senior adviser to Temasek International Advisors Pte Ltd.

Mr Boon served as Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chairman of ST Engineering Ltd from October 1997 to May 2001, and was the Managing Director of Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) from January 2002 to January 2006. He also served concurrently as Executive Chairman of Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd, the commercial arm of A*STAR, from August 2001 to December 2009. For his stewardship of ST Engineering Ltd, Mr Boon was awarded one of Singapore’s most prestigious business awards, the Singapore Business Award for Outstanding CEO in 2000. Mr Boon was also Chairman of ST Asset Management Ltd. (“STAM”) from April 2010 to December 2011.

Mr Boon Swan Foo was the director of Intouch Holdings Plc, a telecommunications and satellite holding company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand from September 2007 to November 2016. Mr Boon served on the board of MIH Holdings Limited (South Africa), an investment holding and internet company from April 2011 to October 2013. Mr Boon also served on the board of Dongfeng Motor Corporation (China), an automobile manufacturer from July 2011 to January 2018; China National Offshore Oil Corporation, a national oil company from February 2012 to August 2019; China Huadian Corporation, a power generation company from April 2015 to October 2021; China Baowu Steel Group Corporation Limited, the world’s largest steel producer from October 2019 to December 2022; and Orica Limited one of the world’s largest providers of commercial explosives and blasting systems provider based in Australia from May 2019 to December 2022.

Mr Boon was an advisor to the Dean’s Council of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (U.S.A); Motorola Inc. Research Visionary Board (U.S.A); Commercialisation Advisory Board of Imperial College (U.K) and Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (Japan).

Mr Boon graduated from Newcastle upon Tyne with a degree in Naval Architecture. Mr Boon is a member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountant (UK)-ACCA. He holds an MBA from the National University of Singapore and has completed Harvard’s Advanced Management Program.

Mr Abdul Jabbar Bin Karam Din

Lead Independent Director

Mr Abdul Jabbar Bin Karam Din was appointed to the Board as the Lead Independent Director on 31 December 2021.

Mr Jabbar is the Executive Committee Partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP. He heads the firm’s Corporate and Transactional Practice. He regularly advises public listed and unlisted companies on corporate governance, compliance and regulatory matters.

Mr Jabbar is a director of Chip Eng Seng Corporation Ltd which is listed on the SGX-ST. Mr Jabbar also serves on the board as company secretary to numerous private and public listed and unlisted companies as well as several registered foreign companies with Singapore branches. He assisted multinational companies in setting up their headquarters in Singapore.

Mr Jabbar graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the National University of Singapore.

Mr Charlie Lay

Independent Director

Mr Lay is the senior economist and FX Strategist covering Asia for Commerzbank AG. He is based in Singapore and has been in that role as a Director since 2011. He has a broad range of experience in the Asian and global markets having worked in various capacities in private and investment banking. He has been covering Asian economies since 1997 in roles with OUB Asset Management as an investment analyst, Societe Generale as a regional economist and Credit Suisse Private Banking as an FX Strategist. Mr Lay began his career with the Australian Treasury in Canberra in the macroeconomic modelling division, responsible for forecasting and modelling the Australian economy. Mr Lay holds a Bachelor of Economics and Honours degree from Flinders University of South Australia and a Masters in Economics from the Australian National University.

Mr Ng Thiam Poh

Independent Director

Mr Ng Thiam Poh was appointed to the Board as an Independent Director on 20 October 2021.

Mr Ng retired as the Head of Supply Chain of Sembcorp Marine Ltd in 2020. He headed the global supply chain function, with responsibilities for global materials and equipment procurement, formulating effective sourcing strategies including category management, and establishing strategic alliances with suppliers.

Mr Ng was appointed as the Chief Risk Officer of Sembcorp Marine Ltd from 2004 to 2015. He worked with a dedicated Board Risk Committee which was set up in recognition of the growing importance of risk management to start up, develop and oversee the risk management of Sembcorp Marine Ltd and to evaluate new and ongoing projects and investments.

Mr Ng was the Senior Vice President, Corporate Development of Sembcorp Marine Ltd from 2001 to 2003 to develop joint ventures, investments, risk management and supply chain functions.

Mr Ng started his career as a management trainee in Sembawang Shipyard in 1980. Mr Ng held various positions to the post of General Manager including operations, project management, design, procurement and yard development.

Mr Ng holds a Bachelor of Science in Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering (First Class Honours) with Specialisation in Production Management from the University of Glasgow under the Singapore Overseas Merit Scholarship and a Diploma in Management Studies from the University of Chicago. He has also completed the Harvard Business School’s Programme in Management Development.

Ms Tan Mui Hong

Non-executive, Non-Independent Director

Ms Tan Mui Hong was first appointed as Deputy Chairman and Manager Nominated Director on 30 April 2010 and subsequently retired on 5 Nov 2013. She was appointed as a Non-executive and Non-independent Director on 1 July 2019. 

Ms Tan is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Consortium Investment Management Limited. She has more than 30 years of extensive experience in managing fund management and trust companies which invest in the full spectrum of financial instruments ranging from public equities, bonds, loans, asset backed securities, currencies to alternative investments such as private equity, hedge funds, derivatives and commodities. She was also involved in launching and managing collateralised debt obligations from 1998 to 2015.

Ms Tan was the President and CEO of ST Asset Management Ltd (STAM) and Chairman of STAM’s Investment Committee from 2002 to 2019, during which STAM’s assets under management (“AUM”) grew to more than SGD 6 billion by December 2016. Concurrently, Ms Tan was also the Executive Director of ST Trustees Ltd (established in 2005, holding a trust business licence from Monetary Authority of Singapore) which offers fiduciary trust services. From February 2004 to August 2008, Ms Tan also held the positions of Group President & CEO of Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd and President & CEO of Vertex Management (II) Pte Ltd. 

Prior to STAM, Ms Tan spent 11 years with the Overseas Union Bank Limited (OUB) group which she joined in 1990 and last appointed as Senior Vice President (Fund Management). Ms Tan was appointed Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of OUB Asset Management Ltd (OUBAM) (a wholly-owned subsidiary of OUB) in 1994. 

Currently, Ms Tan serves as a board member of China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Development Group Co., Ltd and Chairman of its Audit Committee, as well as a member of the Investors’ Education Advisory Committee of Securities Investors Association (Singapore).

Ms Tan holds a Bachelor of Accountancy (2nd Class Honours) from University of Singapore, Masters of Business Administration from National University of Singapore and Masters of Science (Business) from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore and has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. She was awarded Singapore’s National Day Public Service Medal in 2012.