GOVERNMENT-LINKED COMPANIES

Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Finance (i) if he will furnish a detailed statement of all losses suffered or incurred by wholly-owned Government companies or corporations and Government-linked companies in business ventures undertaken by themselves wholly or with the private sector from 1965 onwards; and (ii) whether any of these losses have been recovered and, if not, whether the losses have been written off.

Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: Government-linked companies, like all other companies, are run on a commercial basis. They face the usual business risks, including market, technology, commercial and political risks. Not all investments will be profitable, nor may the profitable ones be profitable every single year. Government has to look at the returns on its investments on a portfolio basis, and not take the simplistic position of looking at the profits and losses of individual GLCs year to year.

There are tens of thousands of projects and business ventures undertaken by GLCs. They are undertaken with corporate and business structures which best facilitate the commercial activities in highly competitive environments. There are some 1,600 GLCs in total. To pursue the details of every venture by every GLC for every year since 1965 does not make sense.

Government looks at its investments on the basis of overall performance of its portfolio of companies. As with any other investments, diversification minimizes the risk level of the entire portfolio. Temasek Holdings, the Government investment holding company which monitors the performance of our portfolio, has made profits averaging $2.2 billion a year over the last 10 years. It has current shareholders' funds totalling $46 billion.

If the Member has a specific question on a specific venture, I will provide the details as appropriate, just as I have done in the past when questions had been raised in the House on GLCs.