Elizabeth CHELLIAH

Elizabeth Chelliah, a lawyer by profession, recently retired as Principal Trade Specialist (PTS) at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) of Singapore as of 31 December 2025. She has just been appointed as Principal Trade Consultant with the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), as well as Associate Trainer for CSC, and to the panel of experts at the Centre for Trade Excellence. She is also concurrently Adjunct Senior Fellow at RSIS.

Elizabeth has covered a range of portfolios over her 30 years in the Singapore Civil Service, which commenced in April 1995. Notable highlights include:

(i) Her stint at the Singapore Mission to the WTO in 1998, where she covered WTO issues focusing on all matters relating to trade in goods, WTO DSB, and WTO accessions. She has also served as a panellist in several WTO DSB panels.

(ii) Her involvement in the Singapore APEC team during Singapore’s hosting of APEC in 2009, during which she held the post of Chair of the Committee for Trade and Investment (CTI) from 2008 to 2010.

(iii) Her extensive involvement in FTA negotiations since 2002, including being the Chief Negotiator for Singapore’s FTA with Peru and leading several chapters during the TPP negotiations. Her last negotiating engagement was as Chair of the RCEP Intellectual Property Working Group, which concluded in 2019.

Ms Chelliah has also been heavily engaged in providing guidance and advice on a range of WTO and FTA matters, trade facilitation connectivity, and other internationalisation strategies and levers to civil servants as well as the private sector (business and the legal profession). Elizabeth regularly participates as a speaker in a range of events, including those organised by Chatham House, GTR, Asia Society, UNCTAD, RSIS, WTO, etc.

From March 2020, Elizabeth also took on a trade consultancy role at the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), guiding SBF on FTA outreach and training for business