Chua Sock Koong Explained

Chua Sock Koong
Occupation:Businesswoman
Office:CEO of Singtel
(2007–2021)
Boards:

Chua Sock Koong is the former CEO of Singtel, having held this position from April 2007 to December 2020.[1] [2]

Education

Chua completed her education at Raffles Girls School and Raffles Institution.[3] Chua holds a Bachelor of Accountancy (First Class Honours) from the University of Singapore.

Career

Appointed Group Chief Executive Officer in April 2007, Chua directed Singtel’s global strategy and oversees its consumer, enterprise and digital businesses. Before helming Singtel as Group CEO, Chua served in various key capacities within the company, most notably CEO International and Group CFO, after first joining as Treasurer in 1989. She was instrumental in the corporatisation of Singtel in 1992 and its subsequent successful listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange a year later.[4] She also restructured the company for competition in the lead up to the full liberalisation of the Singapore telecoms market in 2000.

Chua led Singtel’s transformation from a traditional telco into a communications technology company.[5]

Faced with the realities of a small domestic market, Chua was part of the core leadership team which developed Singtel’s internationalisation strategy which accounts for the Group’s acquisition of Optus in Australia and a host of other regional telecom investments.

As CEO International, she stepped up Singtel’s diversification across some of Asia’s fastest growing economies, leading and overseeing investments in India’s Bharti Airtel, Indonesia's Telkomsel, Thailand’s AIS and Philippines' Globe.

External boards and appointments

In 2019, she became the first woman to join Singapore’s Council of Presidential Advisers when she was made an alternate member by President Halimah Yacob. She was appointed a full member of the council in 2020.[6]

Chua is also the Deputy Chairman of the Public Service Commission in Singapore.[7]

She was Deputy Chair of the GSMA Board from 2019 to 2020.

In 2023, she was named a member of the McKinsey & Company External Advisory Group.[8]

She is also a Fellow Member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants and holds a CFA charter.

Notes and References

  1. News: Burton . John . SingTel names new CEO . 21 September 2006 . . Singapore . 28 April 2021.
  2. News: Aw . Cheng Wei . 1 October 2020 . Singtel CEO Chua Sock Koong to retire on Jan 1; company veteran Yuen Kuan Moon to take over . en . The Straits Times . 13 December 2023 . 0585-3923.
  3. Web site: Chua Sock Koong . 3 August 2020 . Singapore Women's Hall of Fame . en-GB.
  4. News: Lim . Kenneth . 1993: SingTel launches IPO, nation of investors. 3 May 2016 . The Business Times.
  5. News: Lee . Su Shyan . 29 February 2016 . Singtel transforms to answer call of the future . .
  6. News: Ho . Grace. Appointments made to Council of Presidential Advisers. 4 June 2020. The Straits Times.
  7. https://www.psc.gov.sg/who-we-are/psc-members PSC Members
  8. Web site: External Advisory Group McKinsey & Company . 13 February 2023 . www.mckinsey.com.