Asia's best exhibition center project starts
Asia's best exhibition center project starts
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore broke ground Friday on a massive exhibition complex project aimed at strengthening the island's status as a center of the lucrative international trade show and convention industry.
The 25-hectare (62-acre) Singapore Expo complex is being built near Changi airport and is to boast 100,000 square meters (1.08 million square feet) of hall space on completion.
It will be linked to the island's subway system.
The first phase, due for completion in early 1999, will span 60,000 square meters (645,600 square feet) which can be divided into six halls or combined into one huge space.
The second phase is to be developed when there is demand.
"With just its capacity in Phase 1, Singapore Expo will be the largest exhibition venue in this region," Trade and Industry Minister Lee Yock Suan said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
"It will further strengthen Singapore's position as the leading exhibition and convention center in the region," he added.
The exhibition industry is forecast to generate over S$1 billion (US$700 million) to the increasingly services-driven economy by 2000.
Singapore Expo's Phase 1 construction cost has been estimated at S$150 million (US$107 million), excluding the cost of land.
Part of the World Trade Center exhibition complex near downtown Singapore -- currently the second largest such facility in Asia outside Japan -- will close late this year to make way for a subway line.
"We therefore need to build a new exhibition center quickly," Lee said.
Apart from the World Trade Center, some exhibitions are staged at the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Center, site of the inaugural World Trade Organization ministerial meeting last December.
Lee said Singapore needed to cater to the increasing scale of exhibitions.
"Some shows could no longer grow further because of the limited capacity of our existing facilities," the minister said.
"Many large international organizers are also looking to capitalize on the robust growth in the Asia-Pacific by staging shows in this region."
Statement
A media statement said each hall in Singapore Expo would be able to support an unfueled Boeing 747 from its trussed ceiling, or accommodate eight Olympic-sized swimming pools or 16 basketball courts.
Three connected halls would be able to swallow the world's largest bulk cargo ship, tanker or aircraft carrier, it added. Lee cited growing regional competition to host exhibitions and conventions.
"Countries like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia and Thailand are all developing or have recently completed new large exhibition centers to enhance their capacity and attractiveness for staging mega international trade shows, " he said.
"With keener competition from countries around us, we must continue to give exhibitors value for money and stay ahead of the competition," he added.
Lee said that in 1996, Singapore attracted more than 230,000 exhibitors and exhibition visitors.
"These visitors spend more and stay longer than the average tourist. Hotels, airlines, retailers, freight forwarders and the entertainment industry depend to a significant extent on the exhibition and convention industry," he said.