The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to boost maritime research & development, productivity and manpower development.
The new initiatives were announced by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, at the recent opening of the Sea Asia Exhibition and Conference, held in conjunction with the concurrant Singapore Maritime Week 2013.
"Maritime is an important part of Singapore and contributes some 7% of Singapore's GDP. MPA is committed to working in partnership with the industry and institutes of higher learning (IHLs) in developing Maritime Singapore and are pleased to work with the industry and IHLs on the new initiatives and investments in maritime R&D, productivity and manpower development," said Mr Lam Yi Young, Chief Executive of MPA.
Investing in Maritime R&D
To continue developing Singapore's maritime R&D capabilities, MPA will be extending the validity of the Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT) Fund by five years and topping up the Fund by a further S$50 million. The MINT Fund was established in 2003 with S$100 million to fund and support R&D and test-bedding of maritime technologies by universities, research institutes and companies in Singapore over a period of ten years.
Raising Productivity
To support our maritime industry's productivity efforts and help raise productivity in the sector, MPA will be introducing a new S$25 million Productivity Programme under the Maritime Cluster Fund (MCF). The new Productivity Programme will support the maritime industry's effort to raise productivity by providing co-funding for initiatives like business process re-engineering, automation and adoption of other productivity tools or practices.
Enhancing Manpower Development
Quality manpower is critical to the growth of the maritime industry. MPA continues to work closely with various IHLs to enhance manpower development and promote maritime careers.
MPA will be setting aside S$2 million from the Manpower Development Programme under the MCF for a new Global Internship Award over the next five years.
The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), MPA and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will jointly be establishing the ABS-MPA Maritime Technology Professorship Programme at SUTD.
