About Us

Mr Philip Yeo is Chairman of the Economic Development Innovations Singapore (EDIS) Private Limited. He spent more than 40 years in public service where he played an instrumental role in Singapore’s economic transformation into a knowledge-based economy. Mr Yeo is also known for championing people development and education. He pioneered scholarships in the organizations he led to nurture and train talent in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.

Mr Yeo is concurrently Chairman of the Board of Directors of :

Accuron Technologies Limited, a global precision engineering and technology group headquartered in Singapore with operations in major markets in Asia, Europe and the USA and serving the aerospace, medical equipment, consumer electronics and automotive industries.

i-Globe Partners, a Singapore-based Private venture capital fund.

Member of the Board of Directors of:

City Developments Ltd, Singapore’s largest property developer.

Kerry Logistics Network Ltd listed in Hong Kong.

National Industrial Cluster Development Program, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Supervisory Board of Directors of Baiterek National Managing Holding JSC of Kazakhstan.

Past Public Sector roles.

A 2010-2013 member of the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA), established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the promotion and development of public administration and governance among Member States, in connection with the United Nations Development Agenda.

A member of World Health Organization Expert Working Group on Research & Development Financing from January 2009-January 2010

Mr. Yeo served in the Singapore Administrative Service from June 1970 to 31 March 1999. From June 1970 to Dec 1985, he served in various appointments in the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), including Permanent Secretary for logistics, defence research & development and defence industries (September 1979-December 1985).

Mr. Yeo is recognized for his contributions to Singapore’s economic development and his pioneering role in the promotion and development of the country’s information technology, semiconductor, chemical industries and biomedical sciences.

Founding Chairman of the National Computer Board (now Infocomms Development Authority) of Singapore from 1981 to 1987. He played a leading role in formulating and championing Singapore’s first national computerisation plan to evolve the nation into the information age.

Executive Chairman, Economic Development Board (EDB) from January 1986 to January 2001 and Executive Co-Chairman, EDB from February 2001 to January 2006. Mr Yeo redirected EDB’s focus from the established fields to new areas of business. These included: Internationally exportable services; developing high-tech industries like biomedical sciences, semiconductors, aerospace and chemicals; and encouraging Singapore companies to make direct investments abroad. Mr Yeo pushed the development of Singapore’s Chemical cluster through the amalgamation of 3,200 hectares Jurong Chemical Island.

Mr. Yeo pioneered Singapore’s participation in overseas infrastructure development projects such as the Batam Industrial Park and the Bintan Industrial Estate in Indonesia, the Bangalore IT Park in India, Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park in Vietnam, Wuxi-Singapore Industrial Park and Suzhou-Singapore Industrial Park in China.

Executive Chairmanship of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) from February 2001 to March 2007. A*STAR is a Singapore government agency focused on building up public scientific research capabilities. Mr Yeo recruited leading international researchers to work on biomedical research in Singapore’s biomedical hub Biopolis, launched the overseas and local training of 1000 PhDs over 10 years in biomedical science, physical science and engineering in July 2001. Built Fusionopolis for the physical science and engineering research and development. Senior Advisor for Science and Technology to the Ministry of Trade and Industry from April 2007 to September 2008.

Special Advisor for Economic Development, Prime Minister’s Office from April 2007 to August 2011. Mr. Yeo assisted the Prime Minister’s Office in establishing new economic links with foreign governments who value Singapore’s development experience, and provide strategic inputs to establish strategic partnerships and open up opportunities with other fast-growing economies.

Chairman of SPRING (Standards, Productivity and Innovation for Growth) Singapore from April 2007 to 31st March 2018. SPRING Singapore was a Singapore Government agency responsible for helping Singapore enterprises grow and building trust in Singapore products and services. In April 2018, it merged with International Enterprise Singapore to form Enterprise Singapore.

Past Private Sector roles

Independent Director of Hitachi Ltd (June 2012 to June 2018), Japan, a leading global electronics company, with approximately 360,000 employees worldwide.

Independent Director (2000-2012) of the United Overseas Bank, a leading Singapore bank with operations in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia

Chairman of Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Pte Ltd (2007-2016) funds the development and management of Information Technology Parks in India’s cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Chairman of Pidemco Land (1999 – 2000) and CapitaLand (merger of Pidemco with DBS Land (2000 – 2004), whose primary business is in property and commercial development.

Chairman of Sembawang Corporation (1994 – 1998) and the successor SembCorp Industries (1998 – 1999), whose core business was in the marine and engineering industries.

Board Member (from 1980) and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Singapore Technologies Holdings (1987 to 1993) whose focus was defence and industrial development.

Public Awards

Mr. Yeo was awarded the Singapore Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 1974, the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 1982, and the Meritorious Service Medal in 1991 and the Order of Nila Utama (First Class), Singapore’s most prestigious National Day Awards in 2006.

In 1994, the Indonesian Government conferred on Mr. Yeo its highest civilian honour, the Bintang Jana Tama (the First Class Order of Service Award) in recognition of his role in fostering good bilateral ties between Indonesia and Singapore.

In 1996, conferred the Order National du Merited (National Order of Merit) for his contribution and leadership in enhancing ties between Singapore and France.

In February 1998, honored by the Belgium Government with the Commander of the Belgium National Order of the Crown for his personal merits in promoting the cooperation between Belgian and Singapore industries.

In November 1998, the international Society of Design and Process Science honored Mr. Yeo with the K T Li Award of Taiwan for contributing significantly to economic and societal development.

Awarded the CEO Lifetime Achievement Award, Asia Pacific IPA Awards in 2003.

In May 2006, conferred the honorary Doctor of Medicine by Karolinska Institutet, the foremost medical school in Sweden.

In the same month, Mr. Yeo received the Japan Nikkei Prize for Science and Technology “in honor of his strong leadership in drafting and implementing Singapore’s science and technology strategy, particularly in biomedical sciences.”

In September 2006, received the Harvard Business School’s Alumni Achievement Award. Harvard credits him with moving Singapore’s economy into manufacturing sectors such as disk drives, semiconductors, petrochemicals, and biomedical sciences.

In November 2007, conferred the honorary Doctor of Science by Imperial College London for being one of “Singapore’s true pioneers of economic development in harnessing Singapore’s skills in industries such as semiconductors, aerospace, specialty chemicals and biomedical sciences”.

In December 2007, conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Japanese Government.

In May 2008, awarded the Distinguished Service (Star) award by the Singapore’s Labour Movement, National Trade Unions Congress, for his contributions to the transformation of Singapore’s economic landscape and creating the conditions of Singaporeans to enjoy more and better job opportunities. The award is the Singapore Union’s highest honor for a non-unionist.

In November 2008, the University of Toronto awarded the Engineering Alumni Medal to Mr. Yeo.

“1st BioSpectrum Asia-Pacific Life Time Achievement Award” in March 2009 for efforts in making Singapore one of the most exciting BioScience hub through a variety of policy, fiscal measures and setting up of world class infrastructure.

In July 2011, conferred the honorary Doctor of Letters by National University of Singapore.

In November 2011, conferred the honorary Doctor of Law by Monash University of Australia.

In May 2014, awarded the 2014 Distinguished Alumnus Award by Eisenhower Fellowships in recognition of leadership in the Eisenhower Fellowships alumni network; and post-fellowship activities that have reflected President Eisenhower’s commitment to peace and productivity by working through direct personal contacts across boundaries.

On 5 July 2017, Mr. Yeo was conferred as an Honorary Fellow of King’s College London.

Education

Mr. Yeo holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Industrial Engineering) 1970 degree and an honorary Doctor of Engineering 1997 from the University of Toronto, Canada, a Master of Science (Systems Engineering) 1974 from the then University of Singapore, and a Master in Business Administration 1976 from Harvard University.

Awarded the Canadian Colombo Plan Scholarship (1966-1970) to study at University of Toronto, Canada, the US Fulbright Scholarship (1974-1976) to study at Harvard University, USA and the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship, USA (March to May 1987).

Academic Involvement

Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Business School of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Member of UCSD Health Sciences Advisory Council, San Diego, CA, USA

Member of UCSD Rady School of Management Business Advisory Council, San Diego, CA, USA

Board of Councillors, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, Japan

Member of MIT Bio Engineering Visiting Committee, Boston, USA (2012-14)

Family

He is married to Jane Lim.
Son Eugene is full Professor of Neurogenetics at UC San Diego, USA.
Daughter Elaine is pursuing a Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Roosevelt University, Chicago, USA

Mr Abel Ang is Chief Exeuctive Officer of EDIS, a position he has held since 2013. He is concurrently Group Chief Executive Officer of Accuron MedTech, where he has overall responsibility for Accuron’s Medical Device activities.

Abel has a proven track record in the medical device sector. He has served as the Senior Advisor to the CEO of Greatbatch Inc (NYSE:GB), providing guidance relative to the commercialization of medical device technologies in the cardiac, neurology, vascular and orthopaedic markets. Prior to Greatbatch, Abel was President, Asia/Pacific for Hill-Rom Inc. a US$1.7B revenue medical devices company (NYSE: HRC) where he was responsible for leading, developing and implementing the strategy to expand Hill-Rom’s presence in the Asia/Pacific markets. He formerly served as the Chief Technology Officer for Hill-Rom for 3 years. In that role he had overall responsibility for Hill-Rom’s global R&D operations which are distributed across sites in the U.S., Mexico, France, and Singapore. At Hill-Rom, he also held the positions of Vice- President and General Manager of Hill-Rom’s US$420MM Global Surfaces and Therapy Business Unit; and Vice-President for International Business and Technology Development. He formerly headed the global Medical Technology and Biotechnology industry groups in the Singapore Economic Development Board’s (EDB) Biomedical Division.

Abel also sits on the Board of Exploit Technologies which provides access to Singapore’s largest pool of intellectual property and knowledge generated by over 2,000 researchers at A*STAR’s research institutes. In addition, he sits on the Boards of the following Accuron Medical Device Operating companies: Dornier Medizintechnik and Advanced Materials Technologies (AMT) Pte Ltd.

Abel is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Nanyang Business School in Singapore and Waseda University in Japan, where he teaches in their respective MBA programs.

Abel has a Master of Science in Computational Biology from Rutgers University in New Jersey, which he pursued while on an EDB scholarship. He attended Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program in 2012.