CapitaLand introduces CDO role to achieve "competitive advantage"

CapitaLand has named Ng Kok Siong (pictured left) and Jason Leow (pictured right) to the newly created roles of group chief digital officer and group chief operating officer. The new appointments, which will take effect on 1 January 2018, are CapitaLand's attempt at "scaling up by deepening its capabilities across asset classes and geographies".The company added that this is in a bid to achieve sustainable competitive advantage to ride the waves of economic and technological changes.In his new role, Ng will be responsible for developing technology strategy and building digitalisation capabilities to deliver solutions to the needs of the businesses, for enhancing user and consumer experiences.Ng, who has been with CapitaLand since 2005, is currently the chief corporate development officer for CapitaLand, where he has been tasked with developing corporate systems and processes to drive efficiency and productivity for nearly three years. Prior to his current position, Ng was chief financial officer for CapitaLand Mall Asia (CMA), formerly known as CapitaMalls Asia, for more than five years, a role he relinquished after the privatisation of CMA. He was also the senior VP, corporate finance for CapitaLand for over four years. Before joining CapitaLand, Ng worked at Shell Oil Company and Exxon Mobil.Leow will be responsible for efficient and cost-effective support services to business operations across geographies and asset classes worldwide. He will also oversee the growth of CapitaLand's retail business. Leow is currently the CEO and executive director of CMA. He has been CMA's CEO for nearly three years.Leow was also the CEO of CapitaLand China since 2009 and led the China teams in streamlining as well as growing the residential and integrated development businesses, including the development and operations of eight Raffles City projects in China. He has been with CapitaLand for over 23 years and was based in China for 13 years.Succeeding Leow is current deputy CEO of CMA Wilson Tan. Prior to this appointment, he was the CEO of CapitaLand Mall Trust Management (CMTML), a role he assumed on 1 July 2012. He has over 26 years of experience in the telecommunication and information technology industries. Tan was group CEO of Singapore Post for nearly three years and has also held senior leadership roles in companies such as NEC Solutions Asia Pacific, Mercury Interactive, Apple Singapore and Xerox Singapore.Additionally, CapitaLand has also introduced two other new roles. Current CEO of The Ascott Lee Chee Koon will assume the new position of group chief investment officer, while current COO Kevin Goh succeeds him. Current group chief corporate officer of CapitaLand Tan Seng Chai will take on the new role of group chief people officer.Meanwhile, the company also named Lynette Leong as CEO of CapitaLand Commercial, effective 1 November 2017. CapitaLand Commercial, a wholly owned business unit of CapitaLand, will focus on growing a global office operating platform for the Group, including capabilities relating to co-working space and the future of work. Kevin Chee Tien Jin, current deputy CEO of CCTML, will succeed Leong as CEO.All appointments, with the exception of Kevin Chee, report to Lim Ming Yan, president and group CEO of CapitaLand.According to Lim, the new leadership appointments are a result of global dynamics and technological advancements disrupting traditional business models."These new leadership appointments reflect the integration of CapitaLand’s management bench strength development with the redesign of our corporate strategies. With these new strategic thrusts, CapitaLand wants to address not just the immediate challenges, we are putting our sights further to anticipate the long-term trends," he added.(Read also: CapitaLand puts more focus online with new e-mall on Lazada)