Latest Development in ISO

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has a new ISO President for 1997 - 1998. He is none other than Mr Liew Mun Leong, President of Pidemco Land Ltd and Singapore Technologies Properties Pte Ltd. This is a great honour for Singapore which will be the third Asian country to have undertaken the Presidency after India and Japan.

Mr Liew will be the 18th President in a long line of distinguished personalities from 12 countries. In his inauguration speech, Mr Liew acknowledged the work of his predecessors and pledged to build on their achievements and further the objectives of ISO. He highlighted three strategic tasks for the ISO.

Mr Liew emphasized that ISO must strive to enhance its relevance to industry and fulfil its mission to facilitate trade and commerce. He said that ISO should be market-driven while remaining focused on building consensus amongst its stakeholders. In this way, ISO would reinforce the mission of the World Trade Organization by promoting global acceptance of international standards to industries worldwide.

The new ISO President envisioned ISO's role to be a one- stop service provider. ISO's services would not just include the provision of reference standards but a whole chain of services on both standardization and conformity assessment. The success of ISO's initiative to promote the Quality System Assessment Recognition (QSAR) internationally would be critical in the next few years. Its success would be, in the words of Mr Liew, "key to ISO's continued relevance as leaders in world standardization matters".

For his term in office, Mr Liew has identified one of his most important tasks to be the re-engineering of ISO's standards development process. Shortening the standards Development process and improving the efficiency of its project management and operations would provide a more timely response to changing market needs that would benefit consumers and manufacturers.

Mr Liew, who is not new to the work of standardization and technology development, would be meeting his challenges head-on. He brings with him his past experience as the Chief Executive of the former Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research (SISIR) from 1988 to 1992, during which time, he spearheaded the promotion of the ISO 9000 series of quality standards to industry in Singapore. As a result, Singapore became one of the first countries to have launched a nation-wide promotion for the ISO 9000 quality standards. He was also responsible for attaining bilateral recognition of ISO 9000 certification between Singapore and eight other major countries.

As ISO President, Mr Liew brings with him not just a strong background in standardization and conformity assessment work and closeness with the industry, but also a keen understanding of the direction and dynamics of ISO. From 1991 to 1992, Mr Liew was on the ISO Executive Board. During that time, he strongly encouraged developing countries to contribute more to international standardization activities. He was instrumental in gaining a place for the former SISIR on the ISO Council for the period 1992-1995. The Council is a key body that drives the policy-making process of the ISO. Mr Liew can expect to lead ISO with a strong appreciation of its roles and objectives as well as an understanding of the needs of industry and business.

1971	Engineer - Ministry of Defence

1975	Leadership role in the construction of the Changi
	International Airport and in the development of
	terminal Two of the airport

1988	Chief Executive of the Singapore Institute of
	Standards and Industrial Research (SISIR) and
	concurrently Executive Director, National Science
	and Technology Board (NSTB)

1992	Group Managing Director and Chief Executive
	Officer of L&M Group Investments Limited

1996	President of Pidemco Land Ltd President of
	Singapore Technologies Properties Pte Ltd