Simon Tay Keynote Speaker

Chairman, Singapore Institute of International Affairs
Distinguished Professor of Law
Award-winning writer

Simon Tay's Biography

Professor Simon Tay is a public intellectual as well as a private advisor to selected major corporations. He is Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), the country’s oldest think tank and rated in 2014 as the best in Asean and the Pacific. He is concurrently Associate Professor, teaching international law at the National University of Singapore.

Simon is a prize-winning author of stories and poems and, in 2010, his novel City of Small Blessings was awarded the Singapore Literature Prize. His book, Asia Alone (Wiley, 2010) about regionalism and the role of America was well received in the international press. His commentaries feature regularly in newspapers across Asia and he also frequently appears on international television.

Simon is also Senior Consultant at WongPartnership, a leading Asian law firm. He serves on Global Advisory Boards for Toyota Motor Corporation and MUFG, the world’s second largest financial group. He sits as a board member for two major corporations in Singapore, Hyflux Ltd and Far East Organization.

Appointed by the Singapore Government, he currently serves as an Eminent Person for the Asean Regional Forum, Eminent Expert to the International Advisory Panel on Transboundary Pollution, and on the National Climate Change Network.

He brings rare authority at the intersection of geopolitics, law and business as Chairman of Singapore’s Institute of International Affairs and an international law professor at NUS.
He translates fast-moving Asian regional dynamics into clear strategic insight, helping leaders understand what shifting US–Asia relations mean for trade, security and investment.
He offers board-level perspective as a trusted advisor to major corporations, connecting policy risk and regulatory realities to commercial decision-making.
He equips audiences to navigate climate and transboundary challenges with a pragmatic lens, drawing on government appointments and regional policy work across ASEAN.
Her insights help leaders build trust, lead with empathy and drive results without sacrificing accountability or resilience.