Welcome Remarks by Ms Low Yen Ling, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education & Ministry of
Trade and Industry, MOC Signing between the Singapore Tourism Board and the Seoul
Metropolitan Government at Gardens by the Bay on Saturday, 9 July 2016
Mayor, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Mr Park
Won-Soon
Excellencies
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
1. I am delighted to join you today on this occasion to commemorate the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Singapore Tourism Board. This marks an important milestone in promoting tourism between our two countries.
2. Singapore and South Korea enjoy close bilateral cooperation in many diverse fields. Our strong people-to-people ties, underpinned by robust tourism from both sides, form a key pillar of our bilateral relationship. The Memorandum of Cooperation is another testament of the deepening collaboration between our two countries.
3. South Korea is an important market for Singapore tourism, ranking 9th as a visitor source market in 2015. Last year, Singapore received about 580,000 South Koreans, a 7.5 percent increase over 2014.
4. Similarly, South Korea has seen healthy visitor arrivals from Singapore, receiving 160,000 Singaporeans in 2015. As of May 2016, about 72,000 Singaporeans visited Korea, an increase of 7% year-to-date comparison. The success of South Korea’s pop culture is palpable with the growing population of Singaporeans listening to K-pop, enjoying Korean cuisine and watching Korean drama serials such as “Descendants of the Sun”.
5. People travel between Singapore and South Korea frequently because of the attractiveness of our countries as travel destinations. The signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation will help boost tourism business and traffic, through deeper collaboration and sharing of expertise.
6. On that note, I am confident that Seoul and Singapore can continue to achieve more together as we look forward to many more years of friendship and cooperation.
7. Thank you.