Act of Parliament · 2020 Revised Edition
Economic Development Board Act 1961
Feedback & supportSetting up a board for economic developmentOfficial textFrom Singapore Statutes Online, unchanged
s 1Short title
This Act is the Economic Development Board Act 1961.
s 2Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“Board” means the Economic Development Board established under section 3;“chief executive officer” means the chief executive of the Board, and includes any individual acting in that capacity;“enterprise” means any entity incorporated, formed or established in Singapore or elsewhere, whether or not for profit, and howsoever owned or controlled, and includes —
a corporation, a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a joint venture, a trust and an association; and
a branch of an enterprise;“member” means a member of the Board;“underwrite” means to contract, with or without conditions, to subscribe for stocks, shares, bonds or debentures of an enterprise with a view to the resale of the whole or part of it.
“Board” means the Economic Development Board established under section 3;
“chief executive officer” means the chief executive of the Board, and includes any individual acting in that capacity;
“enterprise” means any entity incorporated, formed or established in Singapore or elsewhere, whether or not for profit, and howsoever owned or controlled, and includes —
a corporation, a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a joint venture, a trust and an association; and
a branch of an enterprise;
“member” means a member of the Board;
“underwrite” means to contract, with or without conditions, to subscribe for stocks, shares, bonds or debentures of an enterprise with a view to the resale of the whole or part of it.
A body called the Economic Development Board is established.
The Board is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and is by that name capable of —
acquiring, owning, holding and developing or disposing of property, both movable and immovable;
suing and being sued; and
doing and suffering any other acts or things that bodies corporate may lawfully do and suffer.
The Board may perform any of its functions or carry out any of its duties under the business name of “EDB”, or any other business name that the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, specify.
s 4Chairperson of Board
The Minister must appoint a Chairperson of the Board to hold office, subject to the provisions of this Act, for such period and on such terms as the Minister may determine.
The Board consists of —
the Chairperson; and
not less than 5 and not more than 15 other members who must be appointed by the Minister.
The quorum at every meeting of the Board is one‑third of the total number of members or 3 members, whichever is the higher.
The Board is to meet at such times and places as the Board may determine.
The members of the Board appointed by the Minister under subsection (1)(b) hold office for such period and on such terms and conditions as the Minister may determine, and are eligible for re‑appointment.
The Minister may appoint not more than 2 members of the Board to be Deputy Chairpersons of the Board.
Where the Chairperson of the Board is absent or otherwise incapable of acting, or there is a vacancy in the office of Chairperson —
one of the Deputy Chairpersons as the Minister may direct, or in default of any such direction one of them as the members may agree; or
if there is only one Deputy Chairperson, that Deputy Chairperson,may exercise any of the functions of the Chairperson.
Where the Chairperson and every Deputy Chairperson of the Board is absent or otherwise incapable of acting, or there is no such person, a member of the Board as the Minister may direct, or in default of any such direction a member as the Board may agree, may perform any of the functions of the Chairperson.
The Chairperson of the Board or the person lawfully acting as Chairperson at any meeting of the Board has an original as well as a casting vote.
The members of the Board must be paid out of the funds of the Board such salaries, fees or allowances as the Minister may determine.
The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of the Chairperson or of any other member of the Board.
The Schedule has effect with respect to the Board, its members and proceedings.
The functions of the Board are —
to stimulate the growth, expansion and development of the Singapore economy;
pursuant to paragraph (a), to formulate investment promotion policies and plans, and promotional incentives and strategies;
to promote, facilitate and assist in the development of support industries and services which provide important parts, components and related services to the manufacturing and services sector;
to encourage foreign and local industries to upgrade their skill and technological levels through investment in technology, automation, training, research and product development activities;
to support the development of local entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises and to assist local enterprises to expand and upgrade their operations;
to provide or support training in skills required for the development of the Singapore economy;
to identify key enterprises and encourage them to establish their international headquarters in Singapore and undertake a wide range of international service and business activities; and
to exercise or perform any function or duty conferred upon the Board under any other written law.
In addition to the functions imposed by this section, the Board may undertake any other functions that the Minister may assign to the Board, and in so doing —
the Board is deemed to be fulfilling the purposes of this Act; and
the provisions of this Act apply to the Board in respect of the functions.
This section is not to be construed as imposing on the Board, directly or indirectly, any form of duty or liability enforceable by proceedings before any court.
The Minister may give to the Board any direction under section 5 of the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018.
The Board must furnish the Minister with such information with respect to its property and activities as the Minister may require.
There must be a chief executive officer of the Board, whose appointment, removal, discipline and promotion must be in accordance with the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018.
The Board may, subject to the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018, appoint an individual to act temporarily as the chief executive officer during any period, or during all periods, when the chief executive officer —
is absent from duty or Singapore; or
is, for any reason, unable to perform the duties of the office.
s 9Appointment of officers, employees, etc.
The Board may —
subject to the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018, appoint and employ, on such terms and conditions as it may determine, such other officers, employees, consultants and agents as may be necessary for the effective performance of its functions; and
engage and remunerate for their services such persons or agents as the Board considers necessary for carrying out its functions and duties.
Subject to the approval of the Minister, the Board may make rules for the establishment of a scheme or schemes for the payment of pensions, gratuities, provident funds or other superannuation benefits to such officers or classes of officers of the Board as it may determine, on their death or retirement from, or on their otherwise leaving, the service of the Board.
The following provisions apply to any scheme established under this section:
no assurance on the life of any contributor under the scheme, and no moneys or other benefits payable under any such assurance, and no payment made under the scheme to any person who has been employed by the Board, shall be assignable or transferable, or liable to be garnished, attached, sequestered or levied upon for or in respect of any debt or claim whatsoever other than a debt due to the Board or to the Government;
no donation by the Board or contribution by its officers made under the scheme and no interest thereon shall be assignable or transferable or liable to be garnished, attached, sequestered or levied upon for or in respect of any debt or claim whatsoever other than a debt due to the Board or to the Government;
no such donation, contribution or interest shall be subject to the debts of the contributor, nor shall such donation, contribution or interest pass to the Official Assignee on the bankruptcy of the contributor, but, if the contributor is adjudicated a bankrupt or is declared insolvent by a court, the donation, contribution or interest is, subject to the provisions of this Act, deemed to be subject to a trust in favour of the persons entitled thereto on the death of the contributor;
the bankruptcy of a contributor does not affect the making of deductions from the salary of the contributor in accordance with the scheme, but the deductions must continue to be made despite the provisions of any written law, and the portion of salary so deducted is not to be deemed to form part of the contributor’s after-acquired property;
subject to the provisions of the scheme, all moneys paid or payable under the scheme on the death of a contributor is deemed to be subject to a trust in favour of the persons entitled thereto under the will or intestacy of the deceased contributor, or under a nomination in the form prescribed in the scheme, and is not to be deemed to form part of the contributor’s estate or be subject to the payment of the contributor’s debts, but those moneys are deemed to be property passing on the contributor’s death for the purposes of the Estate Duty Act 1929;
any contributor may, by a memorandum under the hand of the contributor, appoint a trustee or trustees of the moneys payable on the contributor’s death out of the scheme and may make provision for the appointment of a new trustee or new trustees of those moneys and for the investment thereof, and the memorandum must be in the form prescribed in the scheme and must be deposited with the Board;
if at the time of the death of any contributor or at any time afterwards, there is no trustee of those moneys or it is expedient to appoint a new trustee or new trustees, then and in that case a trustee or trustees or a new trustee or new trustees may be appointed by the General Division of the High Court; and
the receipt of a trustee or trustees duly appointed, or in default of the appointment and of written notice thereof to the Board, the receipt of the legal personal representative of a deceased contributor is a discharge to the Board for any moneys payable on the contributor’s death out of any such scheme.
The Board may appoint from among its own members or from among other persons such number of committees as it thinks fit for purposes which, in the opinion of the Board, would be more expediently carried out or managed by means of the committees.
The Board may, subject to such conditions or restrictions as it thinks fit, delegate —
to any of its members including the Chairperson and each Deputy Chairperson;
to its chief executive officer, or any of its officers or employees;
to any committee appointed by it under subsection (1); or
to any other person as it thinks fit,any of the functions or powers of the Board under this Act or any other written law.
Any function or power delegated under subsection (2) to any person or committee may be performed or exercised by that person or committee in the name and on behalf of the Board.
No matter or thing done and no contract of any kind entered into by the Board and no matter or thing done by any member of the Board or by any officer or employee thereof or any other person acting under the direction of the Board shall, if the matter or thing was done or the contract was entered into bona fide for the purpose of executing the provisions of this Act, subject the member, officer or employee or any person acting under the direction of the Board personally to any action, liability, claim or demand whatsoever in respect thereof.
Any expense incurred by the Board or any member, officer, employee or other person so acting under the direction of the Board must be borne by and repaid out of the funds of the Board.
Where the Board provides a service to the public whereby information is supplied to the public pursuant to any written law, neither the Board nor any of its members, officers or employees involved in the supply of such information shall be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any member of the public by reason of any error or omission of whatever nature appearing in the information or however caused if made in good faith and in the ordinary course of the discharge of the duties of the member, officer or employee.
s 16Provision of working capital
For the purpose of enabling the Board to carry out its objects and to defray expenditure properly chargeable to capital account, including defraying initial expenses, and for the provision of working capital, the Minister may authorise payment to the Board of any sum that the Minister may determine.
s 16AFunds and property of Board
The funds and property of the Board consist of —
any moneys appropriated by Parliament for the purposes of the Board;
all moneys paid to the Board for the purposes of the Board;
all moneys paid to the Board by way of grants, subsidies, donations, gifts, fees, charges, rents, interest, dividends and royalties;
all moneys derived from the sale of any property belonging to or held by or on behalf of the Board;
all moneys derived by the Board from the sale of its publications;
all moneys received by the Board for services rendered by it or by any practice or process developed by it;
all moneys, dividends or income received from any transaction made pursuant to the powers conferred on the Board by this Act;
all other moneys and property lawfully received by the Board for the purposes of the Board; and
all accumulations of income derived from any such property or money.
For the discharge of its functions or duties under this Act or any other written law, the Board may raise loans from the Government or, with the approval of the Minister, raise loans within or outside Singapore from any source that the Minister may direct by —
mortgage, overdraft or other means, with or without security;
charge, whether legal or equitable, on any property vested in the Board or on any other revenue receivable by the Board under this Act or any other written law; or
the creation and issue of debentures, bonds or any other instrument as the Minister may approve.
For the purposes of this section, the power to raise loans includes the power to make any financial agreement by which credit facilities are granted to the Board for the purchase of goods, materials or things.
s 17AIssue of shares, etc.
As a consequence of —
the vesting of any property, rights or liabilities of the Government in the Board under this Act; or
any capital injection or other investment by the Government in the Board in accordance with any written law,the Board must issue such shares or other securities to the Minister for Finance as that Minister may direct.