Ascendas is considered to be one of the growing companies with assets rising eight-fold to $9 billion today from $1.2 billion in 2001. Yet, it’s Chief Executive Officer and president, Ms. Chong Siak Ching, has managed to keep out from the spotlight.
Ms. Chong said, “I don’t think any company should be associated with any one individual”. He added, ”One person does not hold the answers to everything”.
She is also Ascendas’ chairman of IE Singapore’s Network India Steering Committee and deputy chairman of Spring Singapore. In November, Ms. Chong will preside over the Apec CEO Summit which will host China’s President Hu Jin Tao and US President Barack Obama.
Her attributes helped to hold a business which was an estate management business of two sites – Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park and Singapore Science Park – and transformed it into Asia’s leading business space provider in markets such as the Philippines, South Korea, China, India, and Singapore.
Ascendas invested in 10 nations and 33 cities because of her visits to other countries intended for investment. ”I believe that one should not always be sitting in HQ, unaware of what the situation is on the ground. When investment proposals surface, you need to have a feel of what the demand and supply situation is like and the best way to do this is to be there meeting with customers and investors, talking to our people and also letting our team-mates out there in the different countries feel the presence of the senior management team so they don’t feel like they are fighting a war by themselves. I think this is a very important part of my job”.
Ascendas is re-assessing all its schemes to make certain that they will remain feasible. “If there is a need to adapt, we will do it”, Ms. Chong asserted. It also strengthened its contact with customers. “We can see that many of our customers are affected in different ways,” Ms. Chong said, adding that they will help customers to restructure leases.
The company is in search for chances and Ms. Chong is at lead. “In the current crisis there will be pockets of opportunity because prices are coming down. In some countries, there are potential distressed assets becoming available, and as we are looking to grow, we will continue to look for such opportunities”, she said.
When Ascendas decided to established a real property investment trust, it has recognised that they don’t have fund management experiences, but was ready for new partnerships and ready to learn. The Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-Reit) was considered to be the first listed industrial space fund which happened to turn into a stock market darling.
It was followed by Ascendas India Trust and several private funds, the Ascendas China Commercial Fund, the Ascendas China Industrial & Business Parks Fund, and Ascendas Asean Business Space Fund.
However, the previous years have perceived exuberance in almost business sectors, thanks to easier access to capital. Ms. Chong stated that she will not spread out into sectors with no distinction from the competition. “Our core skills will still be as a developer”. This makes expansion path of Ascendas to become widely open.