Temasek emerges as an Asian powerhouse after regional expansion
Temasek emerges as an Asian powerhouse after regional expansion
Bernice Han, Agence France-Presse/Singapore
Singapore's Temasek Holdings is stamping its mark as an Asian powerhouse investor after a trailblazing multi-billion dollar shopping spree in the region over the past two years, analysts say.
The Singapore government's investment arm, which has interests in everything from banks to telecoms, airlines to energy firms, is now a major presence in the region, stretching from closest neighbor Malaysia to China and India.
Almost half of Temasek's portfolio, worth S$90 billion (US$55 billion), is invested overseas with many of its foreign interests acquired over the past two years, company spokeswoman Rachel Lin told AFP.
Lin said Temasek had invested more than S$3 billion globally since 2003 and it planned to continue increasing its foreign assets, not only in Asia but throughout the 30 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations.
"Previously our portfolio was predominantly Singapore based," Lin said.
"Currently, our portfolio is about 52 percent based in Singapore. In the next 8-10 years, we expect to see our portfolio transform to approximately one-third Singapore, one-third Asia and one-third OECD economies."
Some of the notable foreign investments undertaken by Temasek over the past three years include stakes in South Korea's Hana Bank, Bank Danamon of Indonesia, Telekom Malaysia and India's largest bank, ICICI Bank.
Just last week Temasek bought a 25 percent stake in Pakistan's NIB bank, as well as a slice of Malaysia's Alliance Bank through acquiring a 15.4 percent stake in the institution's owner, Malaysian Plantations.
Nine percent of its portfolio is now made up of investments in Southeast Asian countries other than Singapore, according to the company's website.
Another six percent is in China, Taiwan and South Korea, 17 percent is in Australia, one percent is in Japan and another one percent in India and Pakistan.
Outside of the Asia Pacific, seven percent of its portfolio is in the United States and another seven percent in Europe.
Chua Hak Bin, a senior regional economist at DBS Group in Singapore, said Temasek had grown to become an very significant economic force in Asia.
"By virtue of its size and capacity to stake substantial strategic stakes across a range of industries, it's an Asian powerhouse," Chua told AFP.
Analysts credit Temasek's successful expansion strategy to Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was appointed executive director in 2002.
Ho, 51, had been the president and chief executive at Singapore Technologies, a Temasek-linked company with its own global presence in the aerospace, defense and electronics industries, before moving to Temasek.
Since Ho assumed the post, Temasek has accelerated its foreign investment drive especially in the region's banking sector, and she has also shed the veil of secrecy surrounding the firm.
"I think the shift in philosophy has only occurred since Ho Ching came in," Chua said.
"Before that, I think it was a bit more passive ... a lot of their investments were still largely concentrated in Singapore.
"I think she deserves a lot of credit for better defining the direction of Temasek and for being a lot more transparent about Temasek's performance."
On the transparency front, Temasek made public its accounts for the first time in October last year.
Temasek revealed its net profit for the year to March 2004 rose sharply to S$7.4 billion on revenues of S$56.5 billion from S$241 million with revenues totaling S$49.65 billion in the previous financial year.
Analysts said the move to shift its radar outside of Singapore made sense because the city-state's small domestic economy increasingly offered fewer opportunities for growth.