Mr S Iswaran at the Joint STB and Messe Berlin Press Conference to Announce the Staging of ITB Asia in Singapore

SPEECH BY MR S ISWARAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AT THE JOINT STB AND MESSE BERLIN PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE THE STAGING OF ITB ASIA IN SINGAPORE ON 11 APRIL 2007, 2.00PM AT SUNTEC SINGAPORE

Senator Harald Wolf, Senator for Economics, Technology & Women's Issues, and Mayor of Berlin,

Mr Raimund Hosch, President and CEO of Messe Berlin,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon,

Introduction

I am delighted to be here today to witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Messe Berlin and the Singapore Tourism Board to launch the Asian edition of ITB in Singapore in 2008.

About Messe Berlin and ITB Berlin

Messe Berlin ranks among the world’s top ten exhibition companies. It stages some 80 international trade events in Berlin each year and plays an instrumental role in ensuring that the exhibition and convention industry remains a key economic contributor in Berlin.

ITB Berlin is one of Messe Berlin’s many established and successful trade events. This annual mega event is widely recognised as the world’s leading tradeshow for the global travel and tourism industry. It is a platform where key executives from companies in the travel and tourism industry meet to build alliances and seal business deals. In 2007, ITB Berlin attracted some 11,000 exhibitors from 184 countries, and more than 160,000 visitors. I am told that deals worth some 5 billion Euros or S$10 billion were made at the show.

A Milestone Event for Asia’s Travel Industry

Messe Berlin’s decision to launch an Asian edition of ITB reflects the immense potential of Asian outbound travel.The World Travel Trends Report 2006-2007 cited Asia as the fastest growing outbound source region in the world. In 2006, the number of outbound trips from Asia grew by 8% over 2005, compared to an increase of 5% at a global level.

Just as Berlin sits at the crossroads between Eastern and Western Europe, Singapore too is strategically placed at Asia’s crossroads, in the midst of fast-growing and emerging markets like China, India and South-east Asia.ITB Asia will be held annually and promises to be an event with a truly international audience. ITB Asia 2008 is expected to attract some 10,000 participants and delegates. This event in Singapore will have a particularly strong Asian emphasis. It will bring together Asia’s key airlines, tour and hotel operators and buyers.

ITB Berlin has, in recent years, faced an overwhelming demand for its exhibition space, especially from new emerging markets like the Middle East.I expect ITB Asia to also grow strongly over the coming years, in tandem with the region’s increasing appetite for travel. This supports Messe Berlin’s global strategy of making ITB the world’s most authoritative platform for the travel and tourism trade.

An Important Win for Singapore

Attracting Messe Berlin to anchor ITB Asia in Singapore is part of STB’s efforts to anchor international MICE players and mega events in Singapore. Messe Berlin will be setting up a Singapore subsidiary to plan and organise ITB Asia. I am told that the company is already looking at recruiting here. This will create employment opportunities in the MICE industry in Singapore. The industry as a whole will also benefit from the greater exposure to Messe Berlin’s best practices in staging large-scale international tradeshows.

Conclusion

On this note, I would like again to extend a warm welcome to Messe Berlin. I am confident that a successful ITB Asia will pave the way for the debut of more exciting events by Messe Berlin in Singapore in the near future. Thank You.