WASHINGTON - THE prestigious Asia Society has honoured Temasek Holdings chief executive Ho Ching for her professional achievements.
But in accepting the award on Wednesday night, she made clear she was not content to just look back, declaring that the 'journey had just begun' for Singapore's 34-year-old sovereign wealth fund (SWF).
Ms Ho received the International Business Award for her 'long career of outstanding achievements in the world of business, investment and technology' at an annual dinner organised by the Society's Washington centre.
The Asia Society said her achievements at Temasek and at Singapore Technologies had helped make them leading global players.
On the same night, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson received the Foreign Policy Award for his role in promoting economic dialogue between the US and Asia.
In her speech, Ms Ho recounted the story of Temasek's birth and the evolution of its investment philosophy grounded in commercial independence and financial discipline.
'Temasek has never been a sovereign wealth fund in the conventional sense. It was more like a 'sovereign poverty fund',' she said before an appreciative audience of Congressmen, diplomats, administrators, think-tankers and corporate bigwigs.
'Singapore had no oil money, no natural resources. Temasek was not managing the country's foreign reserves, the little there was. Instead, we were formed simply to take a load off an embattled government and provide an independently focused, professionally managed and commercially disciplined approach to investments,' she said.
SWFs, thought to have assets worth up to US$3 trillion (S$4 trillion), have become increasingly important players in global financial markets. But some Western nations are tentative about them, seeing threats from the sheer size and non-transparent ways of some of these funds.
Ms Ho underlined Temasek's policy of full disclosure and detachment from management decisions made by the companies it invests in.
She also noted the growth in Temasek's portfolio from just over US$100 million to more than US$100 billion and its contribution to Singapore's wealth and reserves.
'For Temasek (and indeed for Singapore), the journey has only just begun as we enter the 21st century. Temasek is after all only 34 years old, investing like a 34-year-old, balancing his full-blooded risk appetite with his need to care and plan for his young family,' she said.
Singapore's US Ambassador Chan Heng Chee said the award was 'a positive signal' at a time when there has been a heated discussion in the US about the SWFs.
'Her imaginative leadership of Temasek has been watched with admiration in the US. Everyone who has met her has high praise for her. They believe she is at the top of her game and a very smart person,' she told The Straits Times.
She also noted that the award came after Temasek executive director Simon Israel's well-received testimony before a Congressional panel in March.
Mr Jack Garrity, the executive director of Asia Society Washington, said the awards were in keeping with the society's profile of strengthening relationships between the US and Asia.
Coca-Cola chief executive officer Neville Isdell and Mr Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of India's Reliance Industries, have also received awards from the Asia Society.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on 27 June 2008.
