Minister for Transport, Mr Lui Tuck Yew ushered in the new year with over 300 maritime leaders from the private and public sectors, as the Guest-of-Honour, at the annual New Year Cocktail Reception organised by the Singapore Maritime Foundation (SMF).
Held at Conrad Centennial Singapore, top maritime leaders from both the private and public sectors graced the high-level networking function. They include Mr Pang Kin Keong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Board Members of the Singapore Maritime Foundation, and leaders of the maritime industry.
Since the inception of SMF in 2004, SMF has been working in sync with the public and private sectors of the maritime community to spearhead new initiatives to propel Singapore towards its vision to be an international maritime centre and attract talents to pursue maritime education and maritime careers.
In his opening address, Mr Michael Chia, SMF Chairman, highlighted some of the Foundation’s key initiatives to boost the development of Maritime Singapore in 2014. Some of these initiatives include the MaritimeONE Scholarship Programme, the inaugural Singapore Ministerial Maritime Dialogue, the Little Red Dot Reading Passport Sponsorship Programme, and the Maritime Profiling Video, a project commissioned by SMF with the help of various industry partners, to showcase 11 actual maritime professionals across various sectors at work. Please refer to Appendix A for more information on SMF’s key initiatives.
He also urged the Singapore maritime community to look forward to the upcoming Sea Asia conference and exhibition from 21 to 23 April 2015 – the iconic maritime event of Singapore and SMF’s flagship event during Singapore Maritime Week.
“This will be our fifth edition where we are expecting some 14,000 participants, with a 40 per cent increase in exhibition space across two floors at the Marina Bay Sands Singapore. We look forward to your support and presence at this flagship event,” said Mr Michael Chia, SMF Chairman. Please refer to the press kit for the transcript of the speech.
In his speech, Minister Lui highlighted the overall performance of the Singapore maritime industry and port performance in 2014. He also shared insights about key initiatives to strengthen Maritime Singapore. Please refer to the press kit for the transcript of the speech.
2015 looks to be a busy year ahead for SMF. Apart from Sea Asia 2015, the third edition of the Singapore Maritime Services Guide will be launched during the Singapore Maritime Week. The publication seeks to showcase the diversity of maritime ancillary services in Singapore through a listing of maritime companies across various specialisations ranging from Bunkering, Law & Arbitration, Finance, and Classification Societies to Shipbrokers, Ship Surveying, Marine & Offshore Engineering amongst others.