Singapore Names Two Ministers to Co-Lead Trade as Wong Reshuffles Cabinet
PM Lawrence Wong's third reshuffle since 2024 puts Tan See Leng alongside Gan Kim Yong at the trade ministry, with Tan taking charge of energy and industry.
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By Xinghui Kok and Jun Yuan Yong
SINGAPORE, July 22 (Reuters) - Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, appointing two ministers to co-run the trade ministry, the Prime Minister's Office said.
Tan See Leng moves from the manpower ministry to co-lead trade with existing Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong, also the deputy prime minister.
Gan will oversee trade and the broader economic strategy while Tan will oversee energy and industry, Wong announced.
"Energy is becoming increasingly central to Singapore's economic competitiveness, industrial transformation and long-term resilience," he said, according to a transcript of the press conference posted on the prime minister's office website.
The reshuffle is Wong's third since taking over as premier in 2024 from Lee Hsien Loong, the son of founding father Lee Kuan Yew who was in power for two decades.
Wong has not yet made a major reshuffle, with nine ministers appointed by Lee - including himself as finance minister - still holding the same portfolios.
This round, Wong also promoted two acting ministers to full ministers, and Jasmin Lau, newly elected last year, to acting manpower minister.
Current Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam will take an additional role as senior minister.
After taking the helm in 2024, Wong made Gan deputy premier while making minor junior ministerial changes. After an election victory last year, he also appointed six new ministers out of a total of 15 portfolios.
On Monday, Wong's office announced the resignation of the acting minister for Muslim affairs over his interactions with a woman online and during public events.
The People's Action Party, which prides itself on a "whiter than white" reputation, has been rocked by political scandal in recent years.
In 2023, then Transport Minister S. Iswaran was probed for graft and senior lawmakers resigned over affairs, prompting former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to say that his party had taken a hit from a spate of scandals.
(Reporting by Xinghui Kok and Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by David Stanway)
