Congratulations to Mr. Daren Tang (邓鸿森) (48), the Chief Executive of the IP Ofice of Singapore for his successful nomination by the Coordination Committee of WIPO as WIPO’s next Director General.

Hopefully, Mr. Tang will bring the much-lauded management expertise and accountability of Singaporean bureaucracy to WIPO, which has had so many years of controversy, in addition to the neutrality and balance that characterizes much of Singaporean foreign policy. Singapore has also had active collaborative projects with China. Mr. Tang also serves as the first Singaporean to lead a UN agency.

Mr. Tang won in the second round of voting, 55-28, over China’s nominee, Wang Binying, who also had extensive experience in IP and at WIPO and was strongly supported by China, but was opposed by the United States. Here is Mr. Tang’s note of thanks on the IPOS Linkedin page.

Mr. Tang speaks English and Chinese.

前进吧，新加坡! Majulah Singapura! Forward Singapore!