COS 2012 Debates: MTI – Tourism Development Fund

by NCMP Yee Jenn Jong


In January 2005, Minister for Trade & Industry Lim Hng Kiang announced the $2-billion Tourism Development Fund to support the Tourism 2015 targets of doubling visitor arrivals to 17 million and tripling tourism receipts to $30 billion by 2015.
This budget has an injection of an additional $905 million into this Fund. Can the Minister share:

How were the original funds used and why are additional funds needed, given that the $2 billion was to last until 2015?

What projects will be funded by this additional amount, and how are these projects different from those unveiled in 2005?

Is STB on track to achieve the 2015 targets? What new outcomes and targets can we expect with this new funding, beyond the original targets?

How much of current tourism receipts is contributed by gaming revenue; and should gaming revenue even count towards the target of $30b in tourism receipts, unless it is MTI and STB’s role to grow gaming revenues?