Singapore appoints new Accountant-General

SINGAPORE - The Minister of Finance has appointed Mr Ow Fook Chuen as the next Accountant-General. He will take over from Ms Chua Geok Wah on March 23, when she retires.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said that Mr Ow, 43, currently the senior director (special projects) at Accountant-General Department (AGD), joined the Civil Service in 1996 as an accountant in AGD. Mr Ow has held positions in MOF, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.

Mr Ow is a graduate of Nanyang Technological University and also holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In the statement on Friday, MOF said that Ms Chua, who assumed the Accountant-General post on April 1, 2000, "played a significant role in strengthening corporate governance within the public sector". She is described as "a tireless champion of IT" who "led major efforts to automate and innovate the government financial and accounting processes to eliminate inefficiencies and increase productivity".

sinsh@sph.com.sg