“In past years, at the Shangri-la Dialogue, my sense was that they were talking past each other, and that talking was at various decibel levels,” he said, referring to the defence forum that took place over the weekend that he attended.
This year, the decibel level has come down and both sides mentioned words such as “constructive”, “strategic” and “stable” to describe their relationship.
“This time there was at least a convergence point around these four words, of what that relationship between the two countries should be, and I thought that was something positive,” he said.
Asked about theĀ Middle East conflict, Mr Teo said the second-order effectsĀ of the war will likely last for a long time, giving the example of how food prices will rise because of the disruption to the fertiliser market.
Despite this, Temasek has a “significant” presenceĀ in the Middle East and sees continued prospects there, he said.
Mr Teo saidĀ the Middle East has a lot of resources, high ambitions, and “increasingly high ability to see through these ambitions”.
Temasekās portfolio companies and direct investments can contribute to and benefit fromĀ such ambitions, he added. “We are looking carefully at what we can do there and we are prepared to step in when the opportunities arise.”
Companies in Temasek’s portfolio such as PSA, SATS and ST Engineering are already involved in activities in the Middle East.Ā
Temasek has also partnered with BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment platform and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to invest in the Gulf region and Central Asia.
Mr Teo said Temasek is “actively looking” at opening an office in the Middle East and finding the right time to do so because there are opportunities for investment in the region.Ā He did not elaborate on where the office might be located in the region.
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