Indian Stock Market

Market Scan Singapore’s Lee Urges Openness to Investment Shu-Ching Jean Chen, 09.10.07, 5:37 AM ET=20 =20 =20 Publicly recognizing Singapore’s acute vulnerability to the widening bac= klash against sovereign wealth funds like the city-state’s Temasek Holdings,= Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has called for international community to re= frain from lurching toward what he characterized as protectionism. =20 Singapore operates one of the world’s oldest and largest sovereign funds–= and arguably its most transparent one–in Temasek, its aggressive state inve= stment agency. Temasek has waded deep into the region’s financial industry a= nd, lately, has become involved in the United Kingdom through an investment = in Barclays, together with China Development Bank. (See: “Barclays Gets Asia= n Assist For ABN Bid”) =20 But Temasek’s growing reach, buttressed by a portfolio of more than $100 b= illion, with a primary focus on Asia, is running into resistance amid rising= fears in the United States and Europe about similar funds created recently = in China and the Persian Gulf states that are extending their influence in t= he relatively free Western markets. =20 Lee, the eldest son of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, was parap= hrased by Business Times, the country’s dominant business daily, as saying t= hat sovereign wealth funds are particularly under the spotlight as calls for= protectionist measures mount in reaction to the unequal benefits of globali= zation.=20 =20 Critics often cite national security as a concern and demand restrictive r= ules on certain types of foreign investment as a remedy, he said. “Protectio= nist policies–whether for trade or investments–will not make things better= ,” he was quoted widely in Singapore’s press on Monday as saying. “They will= choke off growth.”=20 =20 With Singapore having been a long-standing beneficiary of globalization tr= ends, Prime Minister Lee was also quoted as supporting the U.S. initiative f= loated last year of developing a regional free trade area in the Asia Pacifi= c region as “complementary” to an eventual global trade deal coming out of t= he Doha round of negotiations.=20 =20 Unlike the China Investment Corp. or similar investment vehicles run by Gu= lf states such as Qatar or Abu Dhabi, Temasek is seen as relatively open and= transparent in its investment goals and targets, which are regularly publis= hed in its books. It has employed a team of seasoned bankers of different na= tionalities, including Executive Director Simon Israel, who was formerly wit= h Danone. =20 In the previous years, Temasek has had virtually a free hand investing in = the region, taking a minority stake in China Construction Bankand Bank of Ch= ina as well as investing in South Korea and India’s largest financial instit= ution, ICICI Bank.=20 =20 But roadblocks were recently put up, first in Thailand, where it has met w= ith bitter political outcry for its acquisition of Shin Corp. from Thailand’= s exiled former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra.=20 =20 The Shin investment, which it the new military-controlled government in Th= ailand later forced it to sell, came to represent a big drag on an otherwise= healthy investment performance, responsible for a decrease in net profit of= 29% to 9.11 billion Singapore dollars ($5.88 billion) for the year that end= ed in March. =20 Its recent partnership with China’s state investment agency, China Develop= ment Bank, to place up to 13.4 billion euros ($9.7 billion) in Barclays was = also met with investor skepticism. But this has not slowed it down. This mon= th, it was tipped as an interested party along with another sovereign wealth= fund, the Qatari Investment Authority, to buy Nasdaq’s 31% stake in the Lon= don Stock Exchange. =20

Safe Harbor Statement: =20 Some forward looking statements on projections, estimates, expectations & ou= tlook are included to enable a better comprehension of the Company prospects= . Actual results may, however, differ materially from those stated on accoun= t of factors such as changes in government regulations, tax regimes, economi= c developments within India and the countries within which the Company condu= cts its business, exchange rate and interest rate movements, impact of compe= ting products and their pricing, product demand and supply constraints. =20 Nothing in this article is, or should be construed as, investment advice.= =20 =20 =20 =20 =20
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