Ex-finance minister Dr Richard Hu to retire from GIC Board

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) said former Finance Minister Dr Richard Hu will retire from the GIC board with effect from 30 November 2012. 

In a statement, GIC said three new directors will be appointed to its board. They are former Singapore Exchange CEO Hsieh Fu Hua, banking veteran Loh Boon Chye and Executive Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Singapore Gautam Banerjee. 

Mr Hsieh is also an advisor to PrimePartners Group and a director of United Overseas Bank, while Mr Loh will join Bank of America Merrill Lynch as Deputy President Asia Pacific in December 2012. 

The appointments of Mr Hsieh and Mr Loh took effect today, while Mr Banerjee will join the Board on 1 January 2013. 

In a letter of appreciation, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who's also Chairman of GIC paid tribute to Dr Hu's 31 years of service to GIC. 

Appointed to the GIC Board in 1981, Dr Hu was then Chairman and Chief Executive of the Shell Group and the first private sector person to be appointed to the GIC board. 

Mr Lee said Dr Hu's record will be "an exemplar for others from the private sector." 

Dr Hu had served as GIC's managing director from 1983 to1984. He was also Singapore's Finance Minister from 1985 to 2001. 

Mr Lee said Dr Hu had played a key role on the GIC Board and fostered healthy dialogue between the board and the management team. 

"This enabled GIC to weather successive external financial crises and take advantage of many investment opportunities over the years, " he added. 

As Chairman of GIC Real Estate from 1999 to 2009, Dr Hu also oversaw the growth of the entity from mainly an investor in US office properties to one of the world's most globally diversified real estate investors.