Minister Lim Hng Kiang visits Latin America

MINISTER LIM HNG KIANG VISITS LATIN AMERICA

Minister for Trade and Industry, Lim Hng Kiang, will be visiting Peru and Brazil from 29 May to 5 June 2008.In Peru, Minister Lim will attend the APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade which will be held in Arequipa from 31 May to 1 June.

Minister Lim's trip to Brazil from 3-5 June will cover the cities of Brasilia and Sao Paulo. During his visit there, he is expected to meet with political leaders, senior officials and business leaders to discuss how Singapore and Brazil can strengthen bilateral economic relations.

Concurrently, International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) will be organizing its first agribusiness study mission to Latin America (Peru, Brazil and Mexico) from 29 May to 6 June. Led by Mr Ted Tan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of IE Singapore, the delegation comprises 11 participants from nine Singapore-based companies (please see Annex for list of companies) as well as the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore.

Today, Latin America, in particular Brazil, is a significant source of food imports for Singapore. For example, 85% of Singapore's chilled/frozen poultry (including chicken, duck and turkey), and 60% of Singapore's frozen beef, are imported from Brazil. One of the objectives of the study mission is to explore how Singapore could be a re-export hub for Latin America's growing agro-exports. There could also be scope for agri-business technology collaborations in meat, fruits, vegetable and fisheries harvesting as well as co-development of farming technologies.

Singapore's total trade with Latin America reached S$13.4 billion in 2007.Top traded products include refined petroleum products, telecommunications equipment, electronics valves, and offal fresh chilled meat.

Minister Lim will be accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, International Enterprise Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation.

Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore
International Enterprise Singapore
28 May 2008

Annex A

List of companies participating in the mission

1 Adam Halal (S) Pte Ltd

2 Angliss Singapore Pte Ltd

3 Chuan Seng Huat Egg Store

4 Cold Storage Singapore (1983) Pte Ltd

5 Country Foods Pte Ltd

6 Dah Chong Hong Trading (S) Pte Ltd

7 Hanifaa Frozen Food Pte Ltd

8 Pin Corporation Pte Ltd

9 Trendy Egg Distributor / Sengkang Trading Enterprise