Honoured for their economic contributions to Singapore

President Halimah Yacob at the investiture of The Public Service Medal last Thursday, flanked by (front row, second from left) Mr Wayne Russell Allan, ASML executive vice-president and Mr Oliver Tonby, senior partner and Asia chairman of McKinsey and
President Halimah Yacob at the investiture of The Public Service Medal last Thursday, flanked by (front row, second from left) Mr Wayne Russell Allan, ASML executive vice-president and Mr Oliver Tonby, senior partner and Asia chairman of McKinsey and Company, with their spouses. Also at the ceremony were (back row, from left) Dr Beh Swan Gin, chairman of Singapore Economic Development Board; Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and Industry; Her Excellency Anita Nergaard, Ambassador of Norway to Singapore; and Ms Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath, United States Charge d'affaires, US Embassy. PHOTO: SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS

The Public Service Medal was conferred upon two business executives for their contributions to Singapore's economic development by President Halimah Yacob at a ceremony held at the Istana last Thursday.

The two awardees were Mr Wayne Russell Allan, an executive vice-president at Dutch semiconductor company ASML, and Mr Oliver Tonby, senior partner and Asia chairman of American management consulting firm McKinsey and Company.

Dr Beh Swan Gin, chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), who congratulated both recipients, said: "They initiated long-term investments around digitalisation, innovation and capacity expansion in Singapore, building new capabilities and a strong talent pipeline that accelerate the transformation and advancement of both sectors."

The Public Service Medal has been conferred on 47 EDB-nominated senior business executives between 1998 and last year.

Prior to ASML, Mr Allan had served as senior vice-president of global manufacturing operations at Micron Technology, the largest US maker of computer memory chips. There he expanded and further anchored Micron's activities in Singapore.

The EDB said that as a result of his efforts, the largest NAND flash memory manufacturing site in the world is located in Singapore. A new multi billion-dollar wafer fabrication plant will be built next to its existing facility in North Coast Drive in Woodlands, adding more than 1,000 new staff to its existing workforce.

Mr Tonby made significant contributions to the growth of Singapore as a hub of innovation for McKinsey, in South-east Asia and globally. Under his leadership, McKinsey established the Digital Capability Centre (DCC) in collaboration with the advanced remanufacturing technology centre of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star).

Among other things, the DCC serves as a test base in South-east Asia for piloting digital solutions.

Apart from multinational companies, it works with small-and medium-sized enterprises in sectors such as precision engineering and food manufacturing, to manage digital data collection and redesign jobs to complement technology adoption.

"Mr Allan and Mr Tonby have made valuable contributions to the growth of Singapore's electronics and the professional services industries, respectively," said Dr Beh.

"With their support and partnership, we continue to see good business and job opportunities being created in Singapore."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 01, 2019, with the headline Honoured for their economic contributions to Singapore. Subscribe