Senior Vice President and Head (Designate), Semiconductors, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB)
Mr. Ow Kai Onn is the Senior Vice President and Head (Designate), Semiconductors, Singapore Economic Development Board. Kai Onn oversees EDB’s operations in facilitating the growth of enterprises in this sector.
Prior to this, Kai Onn held the role of Director of the Energy and Carbon cluster at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. He was responsible for developing policy related to carbon allocation, carbon tax and mitigation budget, corporate climate disclosure, and use of voluntary carbon credits. He was also heavily involved in formulating national R&D priorities for the decarbonization of the Power and Industrial sectors as well as leading government-to-government efforts in regional carbon capture and sequestration.
Kai Onn has held a variety of roles at the EDB prior to his current appointment. Kai Onn was Vice President and Head, Chemicals & Materials from October 2018 to June 2023, executing industry strategies to grow the petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, and advanced materials ecosystem. He started his career with EDB in 2006 as a Senior Officer in the Chemicals Division and went on to serve as Centre Director for EDB’s office in Mumbai, India from 2009 to 2012, before returning to Singapore to lead a team under the Cleantech Division, where he contributed to EDB’s efforts in growing a vibrant Water and Environment industry. From 2014 to 2017, Kai Onn was based in Houston as Regional Vice President for Americas Operations, overseeing investment promotion efforts across EDB’s offices in Chicago, Houston, and Sao Paulo.
Kai Onn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the National University of Singapore and obtained an MBA from MIT Sloan in 2020.
He is currently based in Singapore with his wife and daughter.