In the new SBF council are (from far left) chairman Tony Chew, vice-chairman Teo Siong Seng, and Mr Lawrence Leow, who is also deputy honorary treasurer.
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The Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has re-elected Asia Resource Corporation boss Tony Chew as chairman of its new council.

Mr Chew, 63, also chairs Del Monte Pacific and serves on the board of Keppel Corporation. He will serve a second two- year term as SBF chairman.

The SBF also announced its new line-up of council members at its 8th annual general meeting yesterday.

The new vice-chairmen are Mr Teo Siong Seng, chairman of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Managing Director of Pacific International Lines (S) Pte Ltd, and Mr R. Narayana Mohan, who holds the same position in the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Both will also serve two-year terms.

Mr Mohd Zain Abdullah, the immediate past president of the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has also been re-elected for a second term as the third SBF vice-chairman.

Other notable business figures elected to the council include PricewaterhouseCoopers executive chairman Gautam Banerjee and the long-time president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr Lawrence Leow, who is also deputy honorary treasurer of the SBF.

Besides the three local ethnic chambers, the SBF council also has representatives from other industry groups.

For example, the new president of the Singapore Manufacturers' Federation (SMa), Mr George Huang, was appointed to the SBF council yesterday.

Mr Huang - the chief executive of food producer Amoy Canning Corporation - took over from Singapore Cables Manufacturers director Renny Yeo on Wednesday as SMa president.

The SBF said last year that it helped members secure about $550 million worth of business deals, despite the economic downturn.

To help firms venture abroad, it led 16 overseas business missions to markets less affected by the economic slowdown and received over 50 overseas delegations for networking and business matching activities with local firms.

The SBF said that it plans to broaden the reach of its members by intensifying relevant programmes and services, while building on its success last year.

 Source : The Straits Time, 26th June 2010