ComfortDelGro has appointed former top civil servant Choi Shing Kwok and Australia-based corporate heavyweight Russell Stephen Balding to its board.
“The appointment of directors is an important process which takes into consideration not only the personal attributes of the individuals and the expertise and experience they bring to the group, but also how they fit in with the rest of the board,” says ComfortDelGro’s chairman Lim Jit Poh.
“Appointees must possess exemplary professional disciplines, and ideally have experience working in Singapore and the countries where we operate in. The composition of the board must ensure that its size, diversity of skills, experience, gender, age and knowledge and core competencies are relevant to the businesses of the group and offer tripartite representation covering the business government and labour sectors,” he adds.
Both Choi and Balding will join the board on Aug 1.
Choi (above) is currently the director and CEO of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and chairman of SP Services Limited.
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He was previously the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Transport (MOT) from 2005 to 2012 and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) from 2012 to 2017.
Choi, who retired from the civil service in 2017, also serves on the National Records Advisory Committee in the Ministry of Communications and Information, and the management board of the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative in the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Choi’s key contributions during his tenure as Permanent Secretary at the MOT included enhancements to public transport services such as expansion of bus and train services, improved public transport service information, the corporatisation of Changi Airport, and the successful opening of Changi Airport Terminal 3.
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Balding (above), who is ComfortDelGro’s first overseas-based director, brings with him an extensive government, stakeholder, community and customer engagement experience.
Balding, who is also an appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), was chairman of the Cabcharge Australia, which is listed on the Australian Exchange.
Cabcharge Australia is now A2B Australia Limited.
During his tenure as chairman of Cabcharge, Balding also served on the boards of ComfortDelGro Cabcharge Pty Ltd and CityFleet Networks Ltd (UK).
Further to his statement, Lim expressed his confidence in both Choi and Balding, whom he has worked with in the past on other directorships.
“[They] will be valuable assets to the group as we continue to pursue new avenues of growth. Shing Kwok, as a former top civil servant, brings with him strong regulatory and governmental experience which is useful as we continue to navigate the very political land transport business. Russell, who is a stalwart in corporate Australia, will bring valuable insight to us as we continue to expand our Australian footprint, which ranks as our largest overseas destination to-date with over $1 billion invested,” he says.
As at 3.30pm, shares in ComfortDelGro are trading flat at $1.44.
