WORLD
Singapore Airshow opens to the public at weekend
Baku, February 14 (AZERTAC) Some 70,000 tickets to this year`s Singapore Airshow have been snapped up, and organisers expect the remaining 20,000 tickets to sell out over the next three days.
Besides these tickets for the public, 10,000 have been set aside for corporate partners for the event, which opens to trade visitors tomorrow and to the public on Saturday and Sunday, with 45,000 public tickets allocated for each of the two days.
The first day is close to being sold out, said organisers.
The world`s biggest aerospace players are gearing up to tap this growing sector in Singapore, which created 8,000 jobs in the last decade, of which four in five went to locals, according to the Economic Development Board.
"The maintenance, repair and overhaul sector will continue to be a key focus. We want to deepen capabilities and move up the value-chain in this," EDB executive director (transport engineering) Lim Kok Kiang said yesterday.
"Manufacturing is emerging as another key pillar of growth for the aerospace industry ... We`re also expanding and extending into after-market services, such as aircraft leasing and training, pilot training. All these will create good job opportunities for Singaporeans."
Singapore Technologies Engineering has the biggest presence at the airshow, showing off its defence and aerospace wares, plus ideas for a greener future.
Mr Jimmy Lau, managing director of Experia Events, the organiser of the airshow, said accessibility to the event venue - Changi Exhibition Centre - will be better this year.
"What we`ve done is to create more access for everyone ,and at the same time, improve on the shuttle service. The frequency has been increased to every two minutes," he said.
Around 140,000 delegates and public visitors are expected for the event.
This will include European Commission vice-president and Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas, who arrives today for a three-day visit at the invitation of Transport Minister and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Lui Tuck Yew.
The two men will sign a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation on intelligent transport systems and will witness the signing of other cooperation agreements in aviation.
The visit comes under the Transport Ministry`s Distinguished Visitors` Programme, in which key international transport leaders and eminent personalities come to Singapore, and in conjunction with the Singapore Airshow and Aviation Leadership Summit