2021 Young Global Leaders of World Economic Forum

Singapore, 12 March 2021 – Every year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) selects some of the world’s most promising academics, activists, entrepreneurs, executives and politicians under the age of 40 to join its eminent forum of Young Global Leaders (YGLs). Nominated from around the world, potential candidates are assessed based on a rigorous selection criterion. They must demonstrate high-quality leadership, have an outstanding professional work experience and possess a commitment to serving the global community.

To date, the YGL Forum has a membership of over 1,400, and alumni including prominent personalities such as the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Grab’s co-founder Tan Hooi Ling and CNN’s anchor Anderson Cooper. This year, the forum has selected 112 YGLs from across the world, of which three are based in Singapore.

Gareth Wong is one of those selected to join the 2021 cohort of YGLs. He is the CEO of Mitbana Pte Ltd, Surbana Jurong’s joint venture fund management company with Mitsubishi Corporation, Japan’s leading trading house. Selected YGLs undergo a five-year personalised leadership programme and will have the opportunity to interact with the forum’s global stakeholders.

Wong is responsible for a deployable capital base of US$500 million that is aimed at catalysing and crowding in third-party institutional capital to develop townships and transit-oriented developments (TODs) in ASEAN and South Asia. In September last year, Mitbana announced that it had embarked on a greenfield venture with leading Indonesian developer Sinar Mas Land to transform over 100 hectares of land in its flagship town Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) City, in Greater Jakarta, into smart and sustainable transit-oriented developments.

Speaking after his appointment, Gareth said, “I am deeply honoured and tremendously excited to be joining the 2021 cohort of YGLs. YGLs play an integral role in supporting the forum’s vision to create a more sustainable future for the global community. I look forward to contributing my experience and ideas, as well as learning from my counterparts from across the globe. By harnessing our collective diverse resources, I believe we can make a positive change in our respective fields.”

The WEF Special Annual Meeting 2021 will convene in Singapore on 17–20 August. This is the second time the annual meeting will be held outside of Switzerland since it began in 1971, and the first time it will be held in Asia.

– Construction+ Online