Ho, the wife of Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong, is a director at the government-owned Singapore Technologies Pte Ltd. and was appointed a Temasek director in January.

Matten is the outgoing chief financial officer of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp where he helped the bank better manage its capital and suggested ways to sell its vast non-banking assets.

The Singapore Technologies group has interests in defense manufacturing, chip-maker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd and mobile phone company StarHub Pte Ltd.

"She will be working closely with the board and management of Temasek to review, rationalize and consolidate Temasek's interests in various businesses," Temasek said in a statement.

Temasek said Matten will be responsible for "developing policies on capital structure and allocation, and overseeing implementation of a value-based performance framework in the Temasek Group."

The top level appointments come as the government reviews Temasek's role in the local economy, which is being restructured to lessen dependence on the traditional manufacturing sector.

Temasek critics say government-linked companies are too dominant in the local economy and hinder entrepreneurship - something the Singapore government is attempting to foster.

Temasek is the single largest shareholder in companies such as Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, SembCorp Industries Ltd, DBS Group Holdings Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd.

The review, in which both Ho Ching and Matten could play leading roles, will also assess how and when Temasek can divest its stakes and how to improve corporate governance.

PSA Corp, the world's leading port operator, and the government-owned power and public utilities companies, have postponed initial public offerings.

                                                    Home