IEA Speaker Series: Insights from Singapore: climate change, energy policies & regional perspective

Mr S Iswaran joined the Singapore Administrative Service in 1987. He served in the Ministries of Home Affairs and Education, was seconded to the National Trade Union Congress, and later to the Singapore Indian Development Association as its first Chief Executive Officer. Mr Iswaran was Director for International Trade at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in the lead up to Singapore’s hosting of the WTO Ministerial Conference in 1996.

He then joined the private sector, as Director for Strategic Development at Singapore Technologies Pte Ltd. Later, as Managing Director at Temasek Holdings, he undertook investments, takeover, buy-out and merger transactions in the pharmaceuticals, biotech, hi-tech manufacturing, transport and logistics sectors.

Mr Iswaran has been elected as a Member of Parliament in five General Elections since 2 January 1997. Prior to his Cabinet appointment in 2006, he served on several Government Parliamentary Committees, and as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament from September 2004 to June 2006.

Mr Iswaran is currently the Minister for Communications and Information, focusing on strengthening the InfoComm, Media, and Design sectors and accelerating digital transformation across the economy. He also oversees policies and strategies to build a digitally-ready community, a safe and secure cyberspace, as well as efforts to develop libraries of the future and enhance government communications. He is concurrently Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations at the Ministry of Trade and Industry where he oversees various bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations.

Mr Iswaran read Economics at the University of Adelaide and graduated with First Class Honours. He also holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University.