The East of England Development Agency's new chair William Pope who took over on 1 April says his focus will be on improving the region's economy.
Prof Pope, who has been a member of the EEDA board since 2006, is a business man who has developed environmental technology companies.
He succeeds Richard Ellis who is stepping down after six and a half years as chair.
"This region is absolutely the heart of start-ups, an incredible ideas region, with three times as much spent on research and development here than the UK average," sayd Prof Pope.
"Despite the tough times, businesses in the region are creating some really amazing and ground-breaking products, and their appetite for success, rather than being diminished, is growing. EEDA is here to enable these ideas to flourish, create high skilled jobs and help businesses compete globally, in future growth sectors such as digital, life-sciences, plastic electronics, micro-nanotechnology, low carbon vehicles, and offshore wind sectors."
