Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) today announced the appointment of Mr David Lim as Group President and CEO.

47-year-old Mr Lim has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, including as CEO of the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), where he initiated the global expansion of the world leading transportation hub with the acquisition of the Dalian Port in China; as CEO of China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park in China, CEO of Jurong Town Corporation and most recently as a Singapore Government Cabinet Minister.

Mr Lim has lived and worked in China and the United States as well as in Singapore.

Chairman of NOL, Mr Cheng Wai Keung said, “We are delighted to have found someone with such strong strategic capabilities to head the Group as we position for sustained profitability into the future.

“David Lim has experience and expertise in managing complex, multi-layered businesses and formulating and following through on far-reaching strategies for those enterprises in which he has been involved in the past. We look forward to him engaging the same level of energy and intellect for the benefit of the NOL Group.”

Mr Cheng said the Search Committee established by the NOL Board in January, and made up of himself, Vice Chairman Dr Friedbert Malt, Mr Boon Swan Foo and Mr Connal Rankin, conducted a rigorous global search with the independent assistance of long-established executive search company Heidrick & Struggles.

“Our brief to them was that we were looking for someone who could provide leadership for the NOL Group into the future, who thought and acted strategically, and who could articulate and implement the strategy agreed by the Board and senior management team,” Mr Cheng said. “It was also vital to find a leader with qualities that complemented those of the senior management team.

“We looked for someone with these qualities both inside and outside of the shipping and logistics industry,” Mr Cheng said, “arriving at a shortlist of four we believe was made up of the best talent available, with candidates from Asia, Europe and the United States. After assessment by the full Board, we unanimously selected David Lim.”

Dr Friedbert Malt said, “I am most happy with the selection of David. I believe he will bring great leadership, international experience and strategic vision to the NOL Group.”

Said Mr Connal Rankin, “I believe that David has the all-round strategic and man-management skills to weld together and lead a formidable NOL team which will have the aim of delivering a period of sustained growth and thereby enhance shareholder value.”

Mr Boon Swan Foo said, “David’s understanding of the shipping business through his work with the PSA; his marketing experience as Director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) in the United States; his acute appreciation of the issues involved in doing business in China; together with his experience in forging a team and leading it honed in his career in politics and elsewhere means he is well qualified to lead NOL.”

“We look forward to working with David into the future,” Mr Cheng said. “He is ably supported by a strong management team, which will allow him to establish a long-term vision for the Group as a whole and set the direction to achieve that in coming years.”

Mr David Lim said, “I am looking forward to joining the NOL team and contributing to its development. The Group has been through a challenging time but is now well positioned for the future. My first step will be to get to know the company well, to meet the executive team, staff and customers and to establish relationships with the financial community and other stakeholders. Once I have done that, I will begin to put together a strategic vision for the Group and then we can begin to work on more detailed planning.”

Mr Cheng said Mr Lim would begin his new role on 10 July. He joins Group CFO Mr Lim How Teck as an executive director on the NOL Board.