Malaysia, Singapore to jointly venture abroad

Malaysia, Singapore to jointly venture abroad

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia and Singapore are to use their
powerful government investment arms to jointly undertake projects
in the region, including Indonesia, officials said after a
meeting of their finance ministers yesterday.

"This is a very encouraging development and quite a change
from the past," Richard Hu, Singapore's Finance Minister, told
reporters after meeting his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim.

Hu said joint ventures, especially in Vietnam, China and
Indonesia, would take off after Malaysia formally launched a new
holding company -- Khazanah Holdings -- to replace the current
government investment arm, Minister of Finance Inc.

Singapore's top government investment branch, Temasek
Holdings, holds stakes in leading companies in the island
republic, linked to Malaysia by a causeway.

Leaders of Malaysia and Singapore, both members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), have recently
sought greater bilateral cooperation for mutual economic
benefits.

The other ASEAN members are Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand and
the Philippines.

Hu said Singapore would help Malaysia set up Khazanah
Holdings, which would have a structure similar to Temasek, which
is keen to have equity in Malaysian listed and private companies.

Khazanah Holdings was poised to take large stakes in some of
Malaysia's biggest companies, worth billions of dollars,
Malaysian officials said.