SINGAPORE – Mr Damian Chan Chee Weng, an executive committee member of the Economic Development Board (EDB), will join the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) as its new chief executive on May 1.
He succeeds Mr Lim Kok Thai, 51, who will be retiring from the public service.
Mr Chan, 51, is also executive vice-president of EDB’s Human Capital Group.
During his career, Mr Chan has held a range of key leadership appointments at EDB, where he oversaw industry development and policy and planning. These include roles in agri-food, environmental sustainability and planning and policy.
In a statement on March 25, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) said: “Mr Chan brings relevant experience to SFA given his leadership in the growth of Singapore’s agri-food sector in the last few years.”
On Mr Lim’s retirement from the public service, MSE expressed its appreciation to him for his leadership and contributions to SFA.
Mr Lim was appointed CEO of the then Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) in October 2017. He brought together food-related functions of the AVA, National Environment Agency and Health Sciences Authority to form the SFA in April 2019.
After becoming SFA chief, Mr Lim led the agency in charting long-term strategies to strengthen Singapore’s food security. These include diversifying import sources, growing local and growing overseas, as well as ensuring food safety from farm to fork.
During his tenure as CEO, SFA put in place initiatives to help Singapore build the capability and capacity to sustainably produce 30 per cent of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.
These include providing grants through the enhanced Agri-Food Cluster Transformation Fund to support existing farms to achieve higher productivity and launching the Singapore Aquaculture Plan to uplift the local aquaculture industry.
Another initiative which Mr Lim helped develop was the Lim Chu Kang masterplan to optimise land and sea space, and transform the region into a high-tech agri-food zone.
The SFA also worked to ensure there were adequate food supplies for Singaporeans throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and accelerated food production through the 30x30 Express grant call, while supporting the implementation of safe distancing measures.
Mr Lim also guided the statutory board in reviewing and enhancing the food safety system, strengthening its food safety capabilities and applying data analytics to adopt a risk-based approach for food safety management.
