The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) announced that Dr. AKP Mochtan had assumed the post of APO Secretary-General on 16 September 2019 after being elected at the 61st Session of the Governing Body in April 2019 in Manila, the Philippines.

Dr. Mochtan served as Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN, from August 2013 until August 2019, where he oversaw the key organizational functions of finance and budget, human resources, administration, information technology, security and protocol, legal affairs, as well as community relations and outreach functions. Prior to that, he was Director of the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund Management Team headquartered in Jakarta, November 2011-August 2013.

Secretary-General Mochtan has had a long association with the APO. He held several positions in the Secretariat, including: Information & Public Relations Officer; Program Officer, Research & Planning Department; Senior Program Officer, Industry Department; and Director, Administration & Finance Department. He has also worked under the UN Development Programme, Jakarta Office; UN University, Tokyo; and UN Transitional Authority, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

 "I am pleased to come back to the APO to serve member economies as the 12th Secretary-General. The APO has an illustrious history of 58 years and 2021 is going to be its 60th anniversary. However, productivity gaps in the region remain visible, and new issues are emerging. It is imperative that we prioritize and renew the productivity movement so that the APO remains relevant," commented the new Secretary-General.

Secretary-General Dr. Mochtan said that his focus was the "centrality of productivity," and listed six key points: strengthening of partnerships; elevating the standards of the APO; attaining higher visibility and raising the profile of the APO; upgrading national productivity organizations; inviting more strategic partners to join collaborative efforts; and spreading the productivity movement beyond existing members. He added that reform of the APO Secretariat was also necessary to reinforce the renewal of the productivity movement.

After receiving an MA in International Relations from the International University of Japan, Urasa, the Secretary-General was conferred a PhD in Philosophy from International Christian University Graduate School of Public Administration, Tokyo. His undergraduate degree was in Sociology from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia, Jakarta.