Speech by Mr. Desmond Kuek, CEO, Temasek Trust, at the Ecosperity Week 2025 Impact Investing Roundtable

Distinguished guests, friends, and colleagues,

Thank you for joining us at our 3rd edition of the Impact Investing Roundtable. It is most encouraging to see this community of practice grow stronger in depth and reach each year — united by a shared commitment to build knowledge, strengthen capabilities, and mobilise capital for meaningful outcomes.

We continue these conversations at a time of profound uncertainty — one shaped not only by economic and geopolitical volatility, but by the convergence of five global megatrends: climate and nature crises, demographic shifts, the future of work, technological disruptions, and weakening trust in institutions. These aren’t linear or isolated developments — they’re interlinked forces with cascading effects. What we’re facing is not just volatility, but systemic complexity.

Think of it as “Blind Men and the Elephant” meets “Boiling Frog” — slow-burning issues escalate under our radar unnoticed until they erupt, while fragmented efforts and narrow perspectives exacerbate the tragedy of the commons. This is why philanthropy must raise its game. We need stronger, more adaptive partnerships — across capital types, sectors, and geographies — not just to respond to crises, but to sense, sense-make, and proactively redesign systems and frameworks for value creation and resilience.

The rules have changed — and so must our assumptions: about where value lies, who defines it, and how it can be regenerated. The value we seek to create must increasingly be shared, inclusive, and anchored in intergenerational responsibility. The world has regressed somewhat — countries who used to be committed to development aid are backing down, and established norms around trade and cooperation are at risk of breaking down. And yet, our most urgent global challenges remain: climate change, inclusive economic growth, and ensuring healthcare access while preparing for future pandemics. These all require decisive, coordinated responses.

The financing gap to address these challenges is staggering. The estimates are that developing countries in the Asia-Pacific will need an additional US$1.5 trillion annually to meet the SDGs. For Southeast Asia, the Asian Development Bank projects that US$210 billion each year through 2030 is needed just to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure.

Against this backdrop, Asia’s impact capital is still limited. Southeast Asia accounts for just 3% of global impact investing assets under management, and only a third of impact investors surveyed have allocated capital to the region. But half of these impact investors expect this to grow in the next five years, a promising sign of rising investor confidence in the region’s potential.

To gain investment momentum, we need catalytic partnerships that go beyond traditional models and keep pace with shifting risks and opportunities. At Temasek Trust, we work with partners to pioneer and scale innovative capital structures that unlock new impact pathways. We launched Co-Axis (Collaborative Action to Xcelerate Impact and Sustainability), a digital impact marketplace matching funders with impact opportunities. As the lines between philanthropy and investment blur, wealth platforms are engaging Co-Axis to offer venture philanthropy through early-stage impact startups — a trend we expect to grow. Our own catalytic fund — Catalytic Capital for Climate and Health, or C3H — backs early-stage innovators like Dozee in India and Notpla in the UK. This week, Co-Axis secured S$1.25 million in catalytic capital from the Richardson Family and C3H to fund impact opportunities focused on climate, health, and their intersection. With ABC Impact recently closing its second fund at over US$600 million to scale inclusive, sustainable solutions across Asia, we are gathering more momentum. But scale will only come through deeper, more purposeful partnerships — and we look forward to going the distance with like-minded collaborators.

Our Roundtable this year shines a spotlight on ground-up perspectives and real-world outcomes. CIIP is already taking this important work forward — by forging partnerships to turn research into practical, actionable solutions.

In a moment, we will hear from Nick Khaw of Khazanah, who will share more on a study exploring how MSMEs can be more effectively integrated into sustainable supply chains. The study draws on insights from over 3,500 MSMEs across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, as well as interviews with 85 organisations across Asia. Khazanah was a significant contributor to this report by CIIP, and we thank them for their strong partnership.

Building on this research, CIIP’s partnership with the Singapore Fashion Council marks a next step toward solutioning. Drawing from insights on fashion and textile MSMEs, this collaboration seeks to co-develop a regional sustainability roadmap for the fashion and apparel sector, identifying key pain points and unlocking new pathways for sustainable growth.

These insights are also shaping the next phase of CIIP and PAA’s Amplifier programme, a 12-month impact startup mentorship programme which equips early-stage ventures with mentorship, professional services, and catalytic networks to help them bridge the ‘valley of death’ and scale for impact.

Amplifier has secured S$2 million from three Impact Innovation Partners across three tracks. Two of these build directly on the supply chain research: one focused on circularity in textiles, supported by SHEIN, and another on strengthening SME participation in sustainable tourism, backed by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. The third track is focused on unlocking opportunities and breaking down barriers in employment, in partnership with the Macquarie Group Foundation.

Let me conclude by reiterating that, at its core, CIIP’s work reflects a simple truth: impact at scale is never achieved alone. It is built through partnerships — anchored in shared purpose and sustained by the collective will to move from insight to action, and from action to impact. In a world of overlapping and cascading risks, this spirit of co-creation — across sectors, disciplines, and mandates — is more critical than ever.

Temasek Trust supports CIIP and its partners in advancing meaningful outcomes across our four strategic pillars of Planet, People, Peace, and Progress. There is much, much more to be done. The challenges we face are complex, but they are not insurmountable. With courage, collaboration, and clarity of purpose, we can unlock capital, scale solutions, and drive systems-level change that delivers lasting impact.