Advancing Human Security and Community Resilience

Opening Remarks by Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Temasek Holdings

15 November 2021

Life Changing Impact of COVID-19

COVID-19 has impacted life on all counts with over five million lives lost and over 114 million jobs lost or displaced. Governments, companies, and individuals, and healthcare systems continue to grapple with this virus. Yet non-governmental organisations (NGOs), healthcare workers and philanthropic organisations have stepped up to save billions of lives along the way.

Collaboration Key in Combatting Complex Problems

The world faces unevenness in vaccination distribution and administration across developed and developing countries. As an overlay to this challenge, there is a growing need to address climate change which is bringing forth impact such as droughts, extreme floods and heat waves. There needs to be strong collaboration among governments, businesses, investors, research and philanthropic institutions, NGOs and the community. Each will have a part to play to connect the dots, and rally the like-minded to come together to catalyse the larger force for good.

Collaboration Among Partners to Catalyse and Multiply Impact

Temasek provides a variety of catalytic capital and since 2003, has set aside a portion of its returns to be shared with the wider community. It deploys financial capital to stimulate innovation and growth and human capital to enhance human potential including uplifting capabilities through skilling, reskilling and upskilling. It enables natural capital by investing in frontier, deep-tech and climate aligned opportunities, and it seeds social capital to transform lives for a more inclusive and resilient world. And to utilise capital as a force for good and do so effectively, Temasek envisions itself to be a networked organisation with the ability to forge partnerships and collaborate with others to augment the resources it has, with those who share the desire to contribute to building a better world.