Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam was elected as Singapore’s President in September 2023. 

He served in politics for 22 years before resigning to contest in the Presidential Election. Tharman was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister for several years, and Education Minister earlier. He last served in government as Senior Minister. He also served as Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator, from 2011 to 2023.

He has been committed through his years to building economic resilience and a more inclusive social compact. On the latter, he has been especially engaged in sustaining social mobility, improving jobs for lower-income workers, and making life-long learning a reality for all. He has also sought to deepen and advance Singapore’s model of multiculturalism.

Tharman has led several international councils focused especially on global financial reforms, preparedness for future pandemics, education, and global water sustainability.

He currently chairs the board of the Group of Thirty, an independent global council of economic and financial leaders from the public and private sectors. He also co-chairs the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, whose initial recommendations helped shape the outcomes of the UN Water Conference in March 2023, as well as the Advisory Board for the UN’s Human Development Report.