Good morning, Mr Yasuyuki Nodera, Regional Director for the ILO Asia-Pacific Region, ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to bid a warm welcome to all delegates and observers attending the ILO's Regional Maritime Conference and Maritime Inspection Seminar. I would also like to thank the ILO for staging the two events in Singapore and the local two seafarers' unions for co-hosting the two events with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. (MPA)

It is indeed laudable that to give new impetus to the promotion of maritime labour standards through a wider ratification and effective implementation of up-to-date ILO Maritime Conventions, the ILO has organised the Regional Maritime Conference and Maritime Inspection Seminar as part of the activities of the ILO's Decent Work in the Maritime Industry Programme.

As most of you are no doubt aware, Singapore is an international maritime centre and the Port of Singapore is the world's busiest port. Each year, more than 140,000 vessels call at our port. The shipping industry is an important component of the country's economy. We have the world's seventh largest merchant fleet totalling more than 23 million gross tons. More than 26,500 seafarers of many nationalities work on board these ships. Upholding the reputation of our shipping industry is of prime importance to us. Hence, we give particular emphasis to ensure Singapore operates a quality merchant fleet which meets major international maritime safety and labour standards set by the IMO and the ILO. Singapore has acceded to numerous ILO Conventions and is taking steps to implement fully the requirements of ILO Convention 147.

As a responsible national maritime authority, the MPA administers a host of welfare schemes for seafarers. These include educational grants for Singapore seamen, group insurance scheme for Singapore officers and seamen, compassionate payment to families of deceased Singapore seamen and long service retirement awards for Singapore seamen. In addition, the MPA has set up a Special Relief Fund for Seafarers to provide immediate financial assistance to dependants of Singapore seafarers who are missing at sea. It has also set up a Singapore Seafarers' Stranded Fund (SSSF) jointly funded by MPA and the two local seafarer unions - the Singapore Maritime Officers' Union and the Singapore Organisation of Seamen - to ensure that the welfare of crew members on board a Singapore-registered ship is taken care of in the event that their employers fail to fulfil their obligations due to bankruptcy or insolvency. MPA contributes $200,000 while the two seafarer unions contribute $100,000 to the fund. The setting up of this fund epitomises our continuous commitment towards safeguarding the welfare of the ships' crews and the good working relationship we have with the seafarer unions. We have also in April 2002 promulgated the Merchant Shipping (Repatriation) (Amendment) Regulations to give effect to the provisions of the ILO's Repatriation of Seamen Convention. The amended regulations empowers the Director of Marine to make arrangements for the repatriation of a ship's crew to ease the hardship faced by the crew if an employer fails to fulfil his responsibility of repatriating the crew.

For seafarers in port, the MPA's Singapore Mariners' Club provides affordable accommodation and recreational facilities. The Club also regularly organises various sporting and recreational activities for seafarers in port such as the International SportsWeek for Seafarers, bowling tournaments, snooker and table tennis matches, indoor football competitions, and visits to a local beer brewery. Each year, MPA gives a grant of $100,000 which is shared amongst the various seamen's missions in Singapore to help them in providing welfare services for seafarers in port.

In Singapore, training and skills upgrading of workers is a national priority. With regard to raising the level of knowledge and expertise of personnel in the local maritime sector, the MPA has set aside $50 million from the recently established $80 million Maritime Cluster Fund to help raise the level of knowledge and expertise of personnel in the local maritime sector and to develop local training infrastructure and capabilities. The MPA has also set up in April 2002 at a cost of $12 million an Integrated Simulation Centre (ISC) to provide simulation training in a risk-free and realistic environment for ships' crews, harbour craft and port marine personnel.

I am sure all the participants and observers will find attendance at the conference and seminar interesting and enriching. This is also the time for all of you to intermingle with one another, exchange views and establish networking relationships. To those of you from overseas, I hope you will also find the time to take in the sights of our garden city.

Thank you.