Mr Lim Hng Kiang at the Opening Ceremony of Singapore Food Expo 2009

SPEECH BY MR LIM HNG KIANG, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF SINGAPORE FOOD EXPO 2009 ON FRIDAY, 29 MAY 2009, AT 7.10 PM, SINGAPORE EXPO

Mr. Allan Tan, Immediate Past President, Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association,

Mr. Arthur Fong, Vice-Chairperson of South West Community Development Council,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Evening.

Introduction

It gives me great pleasure to be here to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Singapore Food Expo (SFE).

I am heartened to see that the number of exhibitors at this event has grown from 10 years ago. When the SFE was organized for the first time, the number of exhibitors in the hall was about one third of what I see here today. I believe members of the Executive Committee in the Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association (SFMA) feel a sense of achievement seeing how the SFE has evolved.

Food Manufacturing

Singapore's food manufacturing sector performed well in the past 10 years. It maintained steady growth even during the economic recessions of 1986 and 1997 and the SARS outbreak in 2003.In the past five years, from 2003 to 2007, total manufacturing output increased by 43 per cent from S$4 billion to $5.7 billion. The current economic slowdown and H1N1 outbreak may have affected some food manufacturers but as a whole, the impact on the food manufacturing industry is not significant. Most food manufacturers are experiencing steady growth and are continuing with their upgrading and export efforts.

Looking ahead

Under the Local Enterprise Assistance and Development, or LEAD, programme, run by IE Singapore and SPRING, the SFMA has assisted food manufacturers in developing overseas markets for their products and services. One such example is Tai Hua Food Industries which has ventured into the Middle East, developing halal soy sauce customized for the Middle East market.

In addition, the Food Innovation and Resource Centre, FIRC, housed in Singapore Polytechnic, is the first Centre of Innovation (COI) to be launched under SPRING's S$150 million Technology Innovation Programme (TIP). They have helped SMEs create or improve food products, processes and packaging. An example is "ready-to-eat" frozen Hainanese Chicken Rice.

SFMA has also encouraged innovation through its own Food Product Concept Competition. More than 50 new products were developed since 2007 under this programme. One winner is Highlanders International Pte Ltd who then commercialized and exported their winning healthy multigrain product to Taiwan and Malaysia.

Going forward, I hope that all food manufacturers would be able to continue to enhance the quality of their products by carrying out more research and development work. Hence, at next year’s SFE, we would see more innovative products presented to our consumers. SFE could then be considered as one of the channels to penetrate the local market, and thereafter, the overseas market.

Eco Garden Bag project

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of SFE, I understand that the SFMA, together with the South West Community Development Council (CDC) and Environmental Challenge Organization (ECO), have donated $30,000 to make recyclable Eco Garden Bags. Under this Eco Garden Bag @ South West project, proceeds from the sale of the bags will be donated to South West CDC to raise funds to set up therapeutic vegetable, fruit and herb gardens at two homes for the elderly. In support of SFMA’s efforts towards a greener environment and to give back to the community, I hope visitors to the SFE will appreciate what the project sets out to do and help make it a reality for the beneficiaries.

Conclusion

The SFE brings the people in the food industry and their customers together, creating the opportunity for food manufacturers to better understand buyers’ needs. With the support of everyone in the association, the SFE can continue to grow in both size and innovation.

It leaves me now to congratulate the SFMA on the SFE reaching this milestone of 10 years. I wish all of you an enjoyable evening.

Thank you