Philip Poh is a professor that developed the Singapore Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in 1998. After a successful pilot survey, the Singapore PMI was launched in January 1999 and the index has become a barometer of the Singapore manufacturing economy. In 2002, government officials in China sought the advice of Professor Poh to develop the China PMI. Since then, the China PMI has also become an indicator of the global manufacturing economy.