Room to grow: Lim Seng Chuan
When Lim Seng Chuan stepped up as CEO of Kelington Group in January this year, he already possessed a profound knowledge of the multinational engineering solutions provider. For the 16 years before he took up the reins, he had worked his way up through a variety of roles – most recently Managing Director.
To mark his new appointment, Lim used his opening speech at the Company’s annual dinner to articulate his vision for ‘One Kelington’. Having cultivated a strong and distinctive corporate culture and embedded it across Kelington Group’s overseas operations during its expansion, he was eager to further unify and strengthen collaboration across the Group’s increasingly extensive network.
"All of the Managing Directors work together as one company under the Kelington umbrella," he tells The CEO Magazine.
"I am driving three key elements to ensure that all our business units progress together and remain aligned with One Kelington’s objectives and strategic goals."
Lim explains that the first of the three elements is being adventurous in exploring new markets and emerging technologies. The second is maintaining a sense of curiosity.
"This means we must continuously innovate and think creatively to enhance our engineering capabilities and operational approaches," he says.
"As an engineering company, innovation is essential to our continued growth and plays a key role in strengthening our competitive advantage."
The third element is to remain vigilant.
"We should identify and leverage the unique strengths of each of our companies to maximize resources and support one another in our development," he adds.
"We will continue to develop and adopt best practices so that we can move forward together as a truly united One Kelington."
Ambitions for growth
With this strategy now in place, Lim looks ahead with clearly defined goals for the next 36 months, with early indicators already appearing positive.
"We are targeting stronger growth, at least in double digits, so that the company can continue to deliver sustained performance and enhance shareholder value," he says.
In collaboration with
Mega Valve & Fitting
A key focus for Kelington Group is its Technology and Process Solutions division, which accounts for approximately 70–80 percent of the Group’s overall revenue and profit growth.
"We will continue to invest in technology to further strengthen this division," Lim says. "At the same time, while markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and China are relatively mature, we are expanding into Germany, India and Japan.
"In fact, we have already seen encouraging results in India."
Sustainable strategies
Kelington Group’s liquefied carbon dioxide operations remain another key priority, with the company now the largest producer in Malaysia.
Enhancing its green credentials will be another aim for this side of the business, according to Lim. The company is actively exploring opportunities in carbon capture and storage and other sustainability-related initiatives as part of its commitment to supporting the low-carbon transition.
"Carbon capture definitely requires sophisticated engineering design to improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions wherever possible and optimize resource utilization across both project execution and operations," he explains.
"In a highly competitive bidding environment, integrating green and sustainable engineering into our solutions strengthens our offering, both technically and commercially."
Sustainability now runs through every aspect of Kelington Group’s operating model.
"Whatever we build today, we must consider the next generation," Lim insists. "It is one of our key priorities to develop solutions with environmental considerations, while also improving our chances of winning tenders."
Clever planning
This approach has become increasingly important amid current geopolitical tailwinds, with the oil price volatility and currency turbulence prompting Lim to take decisive action to safeguard Kelington Group’s margins, which have proven highly effective.
"If we compare 2025 with 2024, margins have increased substantially despite only a slight increase in revenue," he points out.
"There are several factors behind this improvement. One is currency movement, supported by prudent financial management, including hedging to manage exposure."
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For example, installation work carried out by Indian laborers is paid in rupees.
"We also operate a regional procurement system, where headquarters aligns overall procurement strategy with each country’s local procurement framework," he adds. "All procurement is then consolidated to strengthen our bargaining power."
Ultimately, all funds are repatriated to Malaysia, where he notes that the combination of currency hedging and centralized procurement helps to mitigate the impact of a weaker Malaysian ringgit.
"With these measures, we find that the impact of currency fluctuations is not significant and we are able to maintain a strong and healthy financial position," he explains.
Lim highlights partnerships with key customers, suppliers and partners, alongside the strength of Kelington Group’s people, as a core driver of the company’s success. He believes the Group’s combined depth of engineering expertise and experience in advance engineering provide a distinct competitive advantage over its peers.
"This is our bread and butter," he stresses.
The second pillar of the Group’s success lies in its corporate values, he explains.
"We value our employees and ensure each individual is well trained and groomed for leadership," he says.
"As a result, they see significant opportunities with us, not only in Malaysia and Singapore, but also in markets abroad where they can grow and develop their careers."
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Kelington Group now has a European presence in Germany, while also strengthening its footprint in both Japan and India.
In January, the company was selected as a constituent of the Bursa Malaysia Quality 50 Index and Bursa Malaysia Quality 50 Shariah Index, reflecting the Group’s strong financial fundamentals, quality earnings, robust cash flow generation and disciplined balance sheet management.
The Group was also recognized as one of the 88 leading listed companies on Bursa Malaysia, which collectively represent approximately 80 percent of the stock exchange’s total market capitalization, underscoring its strong market standing.
"We are moving forward and continuing to grow, not only within our core scope of supply, but also beyond it, both geographically and in terms of services," Lim concludes.
"We are still a young organization and there is still substantial room for us to grow."
In collaboration with
Mega Valve & Fitting
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