Singapore is the intelligent choice for your business event. Its cutting-edge facilities, unique venues and wide range of entertainment options will enable you to engage and empower your colleagues with innovative ways of working, networking and collaborating.
Singapore has the advantage of being one of Asia’s main air, sea and telecommunications hubs. It offers access to a marketplace of some four billion people within a seven-hour flight radius. Business travellers can easily convene in Singapore, with over 120 international airlines flying to some 420 cities in 100 countries and territories worldwide.
Beyond air and sea connectivity, Singapore also has the most extensive network of free trade agreements in Asia. Coupled with a trusted network of event organisers, venue operators, government agencies, trade associations and academic/research institutions, Singapore is well-positioned to ensure the smooth planning and successful staging of a business event. Its knowledge-based economy, extensive networks, pro-business environment, stable socio-political climate, strong economy and a myriad of leisure offerings make it easy for you to create a rewardingly fun experience that’s more than just business.
Here to help
The Singapore Exhibition & Convention Bureau (SECB), a part of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), is the lead government agency for the business events sector. It is there to help drive initiatives to develop Singapore’s vibrant business events environment by helping you connect with venues and supporting services, local associations and business partners.
Various incentive schemes, from Business Events in Singapore (BEIS) to the Singapore MICE Advantage Programme (SMAP) and the Singapore Incentives & Rewards (INSPIRE) Global programme have been developed to support business events. The BEIS scheme, for instance, seeks to encourage the business events industry by giving funding support for third-party qualifying costs, such as professional services, content development, marketing and bidding activities. This in turn helps anchor and grow quality events as well as catalyse the creation of new content, supporting activities that will build the foundation towards bringing events into Singapore in the long term. SMAP offers a portfolio of benefits for both events organisers and delegates via the convention bureau and several partners, including Grab taxis and Sentosa Development Corporation, while also offering complimentary air tickets on Singapore Airlines for organisers and discounted tickets for delegates (subject to minimum spend). Finally, the INSPIRE Global programme offers close to 80 options in dining, attractions, thematic tours, team-building and retail experiences to complement the itineraries of corporate meetings and incentive groups to Singapore.
Singapore is one of Asia’s main travel hubs and its transport infrastructure is second to none
Case studies of success
Asia’s biggest aerospace and defence exhibition, the Singapore Airshow, returned for its eighth edition from 15 to 18 February 2022. Close to 13,000 trade visitors from more than 39 countries/regions and almost 600 participating companies reconnected and explored business opportunities over four days. The Airshow attracted global aviation companies, such as Airbus, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, as well as government agencies and armed forces from around the world. Leading firms headquartered in Asia, such as ST Engineering and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, were also in attendance, pulling out all stops to highlight the latest innovations.
This summer, Asia Tech x SG (which included CommunicAsia and BroadcastAsia) was Singapore’s largest technology business event to have taken place since the country’s borders fully reopened in April, and finally, the Bloomberg New Economy Forum (BNEF) was another reflection of Singapore’s continued strength and abilities to host high-profile business and thought leadership events.
Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre
A venue for every event
Singapore has a choice of venues second to none. It has six convention centres, including the Sands Convention Centre, Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, Raffles City Convention Centre and Resorts World Convention Centre, and as a result of its experiences and innovation during Covid, now has hybrid studios at Marina Bay Sands, the Pan Pacific Singapore, the Grand Hyatt Singapore and Park Royal Collection Marina Bay. It also has unconventional and inspiring venues such as the National Gallery, Lazarus Island, ArtScience Museum, SEA Aquarium and the Marquee Singapore nightclub.
Singapore has a wealth of venues for meetings and events such as the SkyBar at Ce La Vi
Centre of innovation
Singapore is the home base of thought leadership and innovation, with unique strengths in knowledge-based and knowledge-driven industries, such as banking and finance, biomedical sciences, information and communication technologies, media, energy and environment, as well as transport and security. It has successfully grown its R&D base, attracting top scientific and creative talent and nurtured many R&D collaborations between the public sector and private enterprise. These factors continue to draw international thought leaders, high-level government officials, and international personalities to Singapore for the exchange of ideas and insights. Strong research capabilities, intellectual property regimes, high-quality assurance standards and extensive R&D networks, have facilitated a strong rebound after the Covid pandemic.
The presence of global technology companies in Singapore is a testament to its leadership in innovation and technology. Over 80 of the world’s top tech firms have built regional bases and research facilities in Singapore, leveraging technology to deliver exemplary customer experiences.
Singapore is aiming to be the first fully Smart Nation, harnessing digital and smart technologies to create new jobs, business opportunities and tech-enabled solutions, ultimately transforming the way people live, work and play. The Singapore Government has taken an integrated approach over the last decade to lay the necessary infrastructure. Its Smart Nation Sensor Platform has accelerated the deployment of sensors and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices, driving e-Payments for simple, swift, seamless and safe payments, for instance.
Singapore has also leveraged data and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles, for smart urban mobility to further enhance the public transport commute. The internet economy in Singapore is expected to grow by 35 per cent from S$11 billion in 2020 to S$15 billion, and with the potential to reach S$27 billion in 2025.
Marina Bay, which has become a model for sustainable and liveable cities around the world
Sustainable events
As the world recovers from the recent pandemic, there is a real desire to put sustainability at the heart of business. Many destinations proclaim their sustainability credentials, but very few have been working in this area for as long as Singapore, or have as much to show for their efforts.
As an example, Singapore’s outstanding attractions all have sustainability at their heart. Marina Bay Sands has reduced its carbon footprint by over 30 per cent since 2012. A whole-of-nation movement, the Singapore Green Plan, lays out concrete targets that demonstrate Singapore’s commitment to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and Paris Agreement, with the goal of achieving long-term net zero emissions as soon as viable. The Plan will position Singapore as a top sustainable and innovative urban destination, attracting tourists to visit and investors to come in and seed new green solutions for travel and tourism. In April this year, Singapore officially joined and embarked on the Global Destination Sustainability Index, to benchmark performance against other destinations.
For incentive groups, a Sustainable Singapore Guided Walk gives more information on the way that Singapore had to be creative in using its limited land space, designing Marina Bay over 40 years to be the model for sustainable and liveable cities around the world. The effect is that these environmentally friendly strategies can now be seen in their maturity, anticipating the future for generations of Singaporeans.
Leaving land behind, a Southern Islands Discovery Sunset Sail tour leaves Singapore Harbour with expert maritime guides informing and entertaining with various facts about Singapore’s efforts towards marine conservation, and a sustainable maritime industry. For more active fun, The Singapore Supermarket Race Challenge (CSR edition) sees teams race to earn their team’s “Budget”, by attempting a series of challenges during a race to purchase essential items for beneficiaries with limited time and resources, all for a good cause.
Food isn’t forgotten with Edible Garden City, which champions the grow-your-own-food movement in cities around the world, starting with Singapore. A Vertical Farm Tour at Artisan Green, a modern agricultural farm in the heart of Singapore, shows how the local community can enjoy pesticide-free sustainable produce all year round.
STB is looking to the future and harnessing technology for its journey. It has partnered with innovative technology providers to co-develop sustainability-related industry pilots through programmes such as the Singapore Tourism Accelerator by STB. It has also developed best-in-class sustainable guest experiences with STB’s support via the Experience Step-Up Fund. The Singapore Tourism Accelerator programme helps to match good technology and sustainability solutions with tourism businesses and its event assistance schemes support event planners, organisers and delegates to realise sustainable outcomes and experiences.
Finally, SMAP includes a new sustainability focus. In partnership with key tourism partners, including Singapore Airlines, Changi Airport Group, JetQuay, Sentosa Development Corporation, StarHub, Grab and NETS, the refreshed scheme offers delegates and event organisers the choice to travel sustainably through green transportation options, environmentally conscious tours, and discounted public transportation on trains and buses, among other initiatives.
The accolades have come to Singapore’s integrated resorts with The Sands Expo and Convention Centre being Singapore’s first carbon-neutral business events venue and the first in the Asia Pacific region to achieve EIC Sustainable Event Standards certified GOLD in 2019. Meanwhile, Resorts World Sentosa was the first tourism business in Southeast Asia to secure GSTC Destination.
Singapore is the leading destination in the world for business events. It’s time to reimagine your next trip.
■ stb.gov.sg
■ visitsingapore.com