Government in Business – Friend or Foe?
Is government involvement in business always good? This has attracted a constant and robust debate. Free market economists have long argued that firms in private hands are superior to those run by a government, hence the privatisation programme in many countries. On the other hand, many state owned enterprises operate no differently from private corporations, with their own boards of directors and with some being subjected to the demands of a stock exchange listing.
Regardless of how they perform, the government has a traditional role of ensuring that national resources are well distributed among the various sectors of the market while maintaining healthy government revenues. Thus, we need a more nuanced approach — to both theory and at a practical level about the ideal relationship between business and government.
Join us for an intimate fireside chat with Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, author of the book “Government in Business- Friend or Foe?” who will share her perspectives to discuss the intriguing issues surrounding the achievement of such a balance for Singapore as well as for other countries.
Mrs Lim Hwee Hua serves as an executive director of Tembusu Partners, a senior adviser to US private equity player Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, an independent non-executive member of the Global Advisory Council of Ernst & Young, an independent director of both Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd and Stamford Land Corporation Ltd, and Honorary Chairman of Securities Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS).
She previously served as a Minister in the Prime Minister’s office and concurrently as Second Minister for Finance and for Transport, Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
Mrs Lim is a Cambridge alumnus and read Mathematics/Engineering at Girton College, Cambridge from 1978-1981. She graduated with an MBA (major in Finance) from the Anderson School of Management, UCLA in 1989.
Date: 21 January 2014
Venue: 2 Goodwood Hill
Time: 7pm – mingling with food and drinks / 7.30pm to commence chat
Charges: $16 per person on a cost recovery basis. Members may bring one non-member guest at a cost of $30 per person.
Kindly contact events@oxbridge.org.sg to verify your membership status, if necessary.
Order for the book may be made at the special promotional price of $25 (inclusive of GST). Please use the form available at http://bit.ly/1jN0BBA. Copies of the book will also be available for sale that evening,