Mr S Iswaran at the Singapore Business Events Awards

OPENING ADDRESS BY MR S ISWARAN, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE SINGAPORE BUSINESS EVENTS AWARDS ON 2 SEPT 2008 AT THE SHANGRI-LA SINGAPORE

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening.

It is a pleasure to join you this evening at this year’s Singapore Business Events Awards.

Introduction

The Singapore Business Events Awards is an initiative of the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, a group of the Singapore Tourism Board. The aim of these Awards, now in its second year, is to recognise the contributions of the business events industry in enhancing Singapore’s standing as a premier business events or MICE destination.

The Awards profile Singapore as a leading destination for business events by showcasing the professionalism, service excellence, as well as the creativity and innovation of our business events industry.

BTMICE, a key driver of tourism in Singapore

Business Travel and MICE (BTMICE) are key drivers of tourism in Singapore. Last year business & MICE visitors accounted for close to 3 million of total Visitor Arrivals, and contributed over $5 billion or 40% of our total Tourism Receipts - a new record for Singapore.

The icing on the cake, that capped an outstanding year, was that Singapore was recently ranked by the Union of International Associations (UIA) as the world’s top international meeting city, and Asia’s top country for international meetings in 2007.It is the first time that Singapore has been ranked as the top international meeting city in the world, over perennial favourites like Paris and Vienna (Wien) whom we were ranked behind in 2006. The result is proof that our efforts to promote and support the Singapore MICE industry are bearing fruit.I would like to thank and congratulate all of you in the industry and in the government agencies for contributing to this achievement.

The question is – what can we do for an encore to sustain, if not improve upon, this performance?The global economy and financial markets face a period of heightened uncertainty.The US sub-prime mortgage crisis coupled with rising fuel prices and inflationary pressures have put a drag on economic activity in industrialized and developing countries. The IMF in its World Economic Outlook report released in July 2008, projects that global growth will moderate from 5 percent in 2007 to 4.1 percent in 2008 and 3.9 percent in 2009. Against this backdrop, we can expect the international travel industry to slow down. On the business travel and MICE front, companies will be looking to trim discretionary expenditure, and such belt-tightening will see some scaling back in the corporate travel and meeting segments, while attendance building at exhibitions and conferences will become more challenging in the coming months.

However, beyond the immediate horizon, the prospects are more sanguine.STB and its industry partners still see good potential in the bidding for future business events scheduled to be held in 2010 and beyond. Also, long term economic growth in Asia will be buttressed by the continued expansion in China and India. Therefore, challenges in the short term notwithstanding, there are opportunities to be had and the Singapore MICE industry must press on by leveraging on our core strengths to build future business.

SECB aims to double Tourism Receipts from the BTMICE sector from current levels to $10.5 billion by 2015. The realisation of this ambitious target will require the collective effort of the STB and our MICE industry to hone the competitiveness of local players in the face of rising global competition.I believe that a constructive engagement between the public and private sectors will enable us to achieve the targets laid out in the Tourism 2015 blueprint.

It has been two years since the launch of the “Business Events in Singapore” or “BE in Singapore” incentive scheme in August 2006.Some 450 business events have been supported through this scheme with the active participation of industry players like you.Some examples of business events that the “BE in Singapore” incentive programme has catalysed include Cityscape Asia, Biomedical Asia, Singapore International Water Week and Carbon Forum Asia.Going forward, we will need more of such wins through effective public-private partnerships to maintain our standing as a top tier international meeting city.

Singapore’s Tourism Landscape

Singapore’s tourism landscape is undergoing a dynamic transformation.By the year 2010, Singapore will have a city-scape that exudes vitality with more buzz and excitement in the atmosphere. The two integrated resorts, Marina Bay SandsTM and Resorts World at Sentosa would have commenced operations, along with the new Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) – these developments will redefine Singapore’s downtown and central business district.

The year 2010 also marks Singapore’s hosting of the world’s first summer Youth Olympic Games.An estimated 3,500 athletes will compete in 26 sporting categories. With a projected influx of some 15,000 overseas participants/visitors generating 180,000 or more visitor nights for Singapore, the YOG presents exciting opportunities for the tourism industry.

These new developments will augment our tourism landscape by offering new venues and incentive travel ideas to business events organisers, and strengthen our efforts to establish Singapore as a top-of-mind destination for leisure and business travellers,

Improving Singapore’s MICE infrastructure

We will also continue to develop our capabilities and infrastructure to serve BTMICE clients and visitors in order to entrench our position as a top Asian and global business destination.

Currently, the Singapore Expo is our largest business events venue and it plays a critical role in accommodating many of our flagship trade exhibitions, such as Food & Hotel Asia (FHA), Infocomm Media Business Exchange (IMBX), which forms part of CommunicAsia, and International Furniture Fair Singapore. Given its size, the venue is also able to accommodate mega incentive groups such as those from AMWAY and Herbalife. In recent years, the Singapore Expo has also hosted a range of new exhibitions which have good potential for growth.These include The International Apparel Machinery Trade Show or JIAM 2008, Zak Salaam India Expo, and BikeAsia.

To ensure that the Singapore Expo is well-positioned to support the growth of the BTMICE industry and meet the future needs of business event organisers and delegates, STB has embarked on plans to upgrade the facilities at the Singapore Expo.

In particular, with the evolving format of business events to include more meetings, conferences and seminars alongside exhibitions, the venue is seeing an increased demand for meeting room facilities.To meet this demand, the plan is to add a suite of meeting rooms located over two floors in addition to improvements to the venue’s technical and audio-visual capabilities, as well as enhancements to its façade, landscaping and lighting

The upgraded facilities will enhance the experience of business delegates and ensure that the Singapore Expo remains an excellent venue for business events.

Developing Human Capital – Our Most Valuable Resource

In the fast-paced MICE industry, many industry player may find it challenging to invest in manpower development.However, to build on Singapore’s foundation as a successful BTMICE destination, we need greater emphasis on training and education to raise the industry’s level of professionalism and competency.Indeed, it is important that MICE employers set aside adequate resources for training and manpower development and deem this an investment in their long term competitiveness.

In this regard, institutions offering MICE training programmes play an important part in ensuring that the content and curricula stay relevant to the needs of the industry.I would like to encourage the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers (SACEOS), as the industry association, to help bridge the gap between the industry and educational institutions - by ensuring that courses that are on offer address the industry’s evolving needs, and equip our professionals to meet future challenges in this competitive industry.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by summarising my key points.Singapore’s BT-MICE industry is on a firm and competitive footing.Significant opportunities lie ahead of us, despite some short term challenges.We need and are committed to a productive public-private engagement, and continual investment in our people and infrastructure to maintain Singapore’s pre-eminent global position in this industry.I look forward to your, the industry’s, active involvement as we embark on this exciting journey.

On this note, I would like to congratulate and extend my best wishes to the finalists of the Singapore Business Events Awards.

Thank you and I wish you all an enjoyable evening.