Joseph Cudjoe leads delegation on study tour of state-owned agencies in Singapore

The Minister for Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe, led a nine-member delegation from his ministry, the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), and the Ministry of Finance on a one-week study tour of State-Owned Agencies in Singapore.

The study tour, sponsored by the World Bank under its project dubbed Public Financial Management for Service Delivery (PFM4SD), aimed to provide firsthand knowledge and experience of the Singaporean model for managing its public enterprises, as well as their oversight and governance.

It provided significant information and understanding of the Singaporean model for leveraging public enterprises for economic development, and provided an opportunity to adapt and replicate the Singaporean tried and tested performance management solutions that are relevant to Ghana.

The tour also aimed to interact with selected State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to forge partnerships and understand from their perspectives critical issues related to inter-trading.

The Minister’s delegation included technical staff from his office, representatives of SIGA, and the Public Financial Management Secretariat under the Ministry of Finance.

The entities toured and studied included the Housing and Development Board (HDB), Enterprise Singapore, Temasek Singapore, and the Singapore Food Agency. These institutions are economy-wide regulators and development agencies of Singapore.

Of significant interest to Joseph Cudjoe was the insight into revenue lines, governance structures, and investment portfolio management strategies as applied to the management of a portfolio of public enterprises under SIGA’s management.

Mike Chan, Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Estates at HDB, explained in his presentation that his entity was autonomous and insulated from government interference, allowing for utmost focus on efficiency and effective delivery of public housing.

At Enterprise Singapore, officials mentioned the importance of instituting foolproof measures that support local enterprises both at home and abroad. For example, G. Jayakrishnan, the Executive Director of Global Markets for Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, stated that his organization has offices across the globe, with its West Africa office based in Ghana to promote and support Singaporean firms.

At Temasek, the Managing Director of Institutional Relations and Singapore Markets, Chua Eu Jin, pointed out that his entity is registered under the Companies Code as a body corporate and holds all government shares in entities.

He added that the Board of Directors even includes foreign professionals, and they invest in both private and government agencies to ensure competitive returns on their investments to enable constant dividend payments to the government - a strategy that supports the government’s revenue performance.

At the Singapore Food Agency, Mr. Damian Chan, Chief Executive Officer, stated that their mission was to ensure and secure a supply of adequate, safe food for the Singaporean public, leaving no room for inefficiency in their regulatory function and operations.

Speaking on lessons learned, Joseph Cudjoe said that Enterprise Singapore reinforces the critical need for the establishment of key government agencies that are supportive of business development in Ghana, support for local businesses to expand into other foreign markets, with a focus on improved production and packaging technologies for overall profitability.

“It is essential for the government to take practical measures to prepare SOEs and SMEs through effective targeting and support to achieve profitability and significance both at home and abroad,” he added.

He also noted that effective inter-agency integrated planning and collaboration in Singapore ensures efficient use of resources, including human resources, as well as land and water resources.

He stressed that the autonomy of Singaporean agencies and their insulation from direct government interference, underpinned by the political will of the city-state’s leadership, allows them to focus on efficiency and effective delivery of their mandates, a national governance strategy which has achieved the economic growth the whole world sees in Singapore.

“Clarity in reporting and efficiency in communication, accountability, and streamlined decision-making processes within entities is fundamental to overall performance and development,” he emphasized.

One major takeaway from the tour for Joseph Cudjoe was that “Political will is fundamental to ensuring the implementation of key policies, projects, and programs to achieve expected outcomes.”

According to him, Singapore’s example serves as a lesson for governance and regulatory effectiveness, which every country, including Ghana, should work critically towards to take advantage of its public enterprises for economic development.