Participant in televised budget forum ‘Ask the Finance Minister’

Participated in a ‘live’ townhall meeting on the Budget with Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat. It was a tight one hour TV programme (48 min after commercials) and each participant was limited to a question each. But we had a good chat off-air. I brought up the digital startup ecosystem, given the emphasis of that in the Budget. Investors want the start-ups to have good exits, either through trade sales or listings. Trade sale is not within the government’s control, but listing is. Unfortunately, companies are shunning SGX due to the lack of liquidity and poor valuations. Take Razer for example. It could have listed here, but chose HK instead. Seems like Mr Heng is well aware of the issue as he gave a knowing smile and said ‘Akan Datang’. He is working to plug this gap. Hope that the plans he has in mind will benefit the entire stock market!