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. He 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, over the 12 years to 2023.

Tharman has spent his working life in public service, in roles principally related to economic and social policies. Internationally, Tharman led the IMFC (the IMF’s top policy forum) for several years and other high-level multilateral councils focused on global financial reforms, preparedness for future pandemics, global access to a quality education, and the UN’s Human Development Report.

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. He is in addition on the World Economic Forum’s Board of Trustees, which advises the WEF on its strategic directions.