Fri, Jan 01, 2021 – 10:28 AM

KEPPEL Corporation chief executive Loh Chin Hua says he is “cautiously optimistic” about 2021, after what has been a tumultuous year for both the company and the broader global economy.

In his New Year message to some 18,000 employees on Friday, he noted that although the Covid-19 pandemic has caused “immense suffering” and battered the global economy in 2020, it had also accelerated many trends which were already in motion such as digitalisation and e-commerce.

As part of its Vision 2030 roadmap, Keppel had in September identified assets worth S$17.5 billion to be monetised over time.

Since the start of October, the company has announced divestments of more than S$1.2 billion. With this, Mr Loh says Keppel is well on its way to meet its asset monetisation programme of S$3 billion to S$5 billion over the next three years.

“Going forward, we will