Asean must band together and be a life raft in stormy seas: PM Lee

[chahlley]

(Singapore Today Thursday 19 January 2017)

Asean must band together and be a life raft in stormy seas: PM Lee

PM Lee Hsien Loong attends the ASEAN Tourism Forum Opening Gala orchid naming ceremony

with ASEAN secretary-general H.E. Le Luong Minh and ASEAN tourism ministers

on Jan 18, 2017. Photo: Jason Quah/TODAY

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By Tan Weizhen -   Weizhen@mediacorp.com.sg -

Updated: 11:27 AM, January 19, 2017

SINGAPORE — Launching a new campaign to promote Asean as a unified travel destination, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday (Jan 18) cautioned against isolationism and argued that regional cooperation would be “an important life raft for all of us” amid growing economic uncertainties.

The region is launching a Visit Asean@50 campaign that aims to grow international arrivals by 10 per cent, to 121 million visitors.

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Mr Lee, speaking at the opening ceremony of this year’s Asean Tourism Forum (ATF), said the global economic mood has become uncertain, particularly after Britain’s decision to exit the European Union and the election of Mr Donald Trump in last year’s US Presidential elections.

“In many countries, the mood is to go it alone, unilaterally push for their own interests, and doubt the value of mutual give and take in a rules-based international order,” he added. “In this uncertain global environment, Asean is an important life raft for all of us.”

Mr Lee cited tourism as an area where the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), which is marking its 50th anniversary this year, can work together for win-win economic benefits and draw people closer together.

And there is huge potential for the region’s tourism market to grow, given the richness of its attractions and the growing appetite for travel among the fast-growing middle class in South-east Asia, he added.

Singapore, Mr Lee noted, is glad to contribute to regional efforts to grow manpower through initiatives like the Singapore-Myanmar Vocational Training Institute, which trains young people for jobs in the tourism industry. The Asean Tourism Association is also offering two post-graduate scholarship schemes, with four universities in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia pledging to offer scholarships in support.

Domestically, after a poor showing in 2015, Singapore’s tourism made a comeback in 2016, bolstered by strong arrivals from China, reported the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) at a separate briefing. Although full-year tourist arrival and visitor spend figures are not yet available, STB’s executive director of communications and marketing capability, Mr Oliver Chong, said the Republic is set to meet targets for international visitor arrivals of 15.2 million to 15.7 million, with visitor arrivals rising 7.9 per cent year-on-year for January to November, coming in at 14.9 million.

Much of the growth was led by Chinese and Indonesian tourists. Chinese visitors returned in droves — after staying away the last few years, with Mr Chong describing the 36 per cent increase in visitors to 2.6m as “phenomenal”.

Going ahead, the STB will continue to target second or third-tier Chinese cities. It is also looking at working with partners to collect data on tourists, such as where they are going and what they are doing, in hopes that they can use insights from the data to provide better products and services to tourists.