Mr S Iswaran at the Press Conference to Announce the Singapore Stopover for the Volvo Ocean Race 2008/09

SPEECH BY MR S ISWARAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE THE SINGAPORE STOPOVER FOR THE VOLVO OCEAN RACE 2008/09 AT 9AM ON 19 NOVEMBER 2007, AT THE CONSTELLATION ROOM, ONE DEGREE 15 MARINA CLUB

Your Excellency Par Ahlberger, Swedish Ambassador to Singapore

Mr Arthur Tay, Chairman, One Degree 15 Marina Club

Mr Jeremy Troughton, Planning and Operations Director, Volvo Event Management UK (VEMUK)

Mr Eberhard Wedekind, President of Volvo East Asia

Mr Low Teo Ping, President, Singapore Sailing Federation

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

Introduction

I am pleased to be here today to witness the signing of the agreement between ONE15 Singapore Ocean Race Pte Ltd and Volvo Event Management UK (VEMUK), confirming Singapore as one of the stopover cities for the prestigious Volvo Ocean Race.

This is the first time in the history of this prestigious international race that a Southeast Asian city is hosting a stopover. We look forward to welcoming the teams, sponsors as well as their corporate clients and guests who will be visiting Singapore for the event in January 2009.

This event is the product of the joint efforts of several parties from the private and public sectors. Over several months, STB and the other government agencies, like SSC, URA and PUB, have been working with ONE15 Singapore Ocean Race Pte Ltd, VEMUK, Sentosa Leisure Group and the Singapore Sailing Federation to pull this off. Their efforts have paid off as Singapore will now host one of the top competitive yachting races in the world. Indeed, the Volvo Ocean Race enjoys a very strong international following and profile, and is often compared to the America’s Cup.

Benefits Of Hosting The Race

Taking place over a period of 10 months, and spanning Europe, Asia and the Americas, millions of viewers worldwide will be watching the stopover in Singapore. The Volvo Ocean Race presents yet another excellent opportunity to profile Singapore not just as an international business centre but also as a global city with a vibrant lifestyle, strengthening our position as an international sporting hub, a world-class events stage and a leading entertainment capital in Asia.

I am also happy to note that the stopover will be hosted right here at the OneDegree 15 Marina Club in Sentosa. The race village on Sentosa will be a hive of activity. Singaporeans and local sailing enthusiasts will get a rare chance to see the impressive 70-foot racing crafts, as well as partake in the many festivities during the stopover including the welcome and closing celebrations.I am told that the party doesn’t stop here as fringe activities are also being planned in other parts of Singapore, such as MarinaBay with our city skyline as the backdrop.

Apart from being a leisure event, the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Singapore will also bring with it many business networking opportunities. With some of the world’s top multi-national corporations involved in the race, thousands of senior management staff members, sponsors, their clients and guests will be hosted here. Corporate launches as well as entertainment and social events will bring about spin-offs for local and international businesses.

Another Welcome Addition To The Development Of The Tourism Landscape

Today’s signing of the agreement for Singapore to host the Volvo Ocean Race comes half a year after we announced the hosting in 2008 of the Formula 1™ Singapore Grand Prix. That Singapore continues to attract top-tier leisure events and investments in tourism products after the Integrated Resorts, is testimony to our strong appeal as a tourism destination.It also underlines our commitment to increase Singapore’s international profile as a premier tourism and lifestyle destination.

These efforts will take us closer to our tourism vision of 17 million visitor arrivals and $30 billion in tourism receipts by the year 2015. This year, we are looking to cross a historical 10 million mark for visitor arrivals to Singapore. We are on track so far with 7.6 million visitors for the period of January to September.

Conclusion

In closing, I would like to congratulate ONE15 Singapore Ocean Race Pte Ltd and all its private and public sector partners for securing the Volvo Ocean Race stopover event for Singapore. The outlook for tourism remains very positive, especially in Asia.And I hope that local businesses will ride on this wave, while visitors and residents alike continue to savour the many leisure and lifestyle pursuits our exciting city has to offer.

Thank you.