Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.I take pleasure to be here today at this MPA Scholarship-cum-Sponsorship Award Ceremony. I am pleased to note that this year we have a bumper group of 28 students who have been awarded scholarships and sponsorships to pursue higher learning in the various academic and maritime fields. We are able to attract an increasing number of candidates with good results to vie for the awards over the years. This is a happy outcome arising from the many initiatives rolled out by MPA to reach out to the public on the importance of maritime sector in Singapore.

2.I would like to congratulate the 9 MPA scholars who have been awarded scholarships to attend degree programmes at prestigious overseas and local universities. We also congratulate the student who has been awarded the sponsorship to attend the Diploma in Maritime Transportation Management programme at the Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA), and the 3 SAIL and 15 TMSS scholars who have been awarded the respective scholarships to attend sea-going diploma programmes at the SMA to prepare them to qualify as masters and chief engineers of ocean-going ships. In total, MPA is committed to incur some $3.5 million to fund these 28 awards. This represents an increase of 60% over the $2.2 million committed for MPA awards last year."

3.MPA places great emphasis on creating a pool of trained and competent manpower in Singapore to fill posts in MPA and other shipping-related companies and organisations in Singapore.Having a pool of highly qualified maritime personnel working in Singapore is crucial in attracting more overseas companies and organizations to set up offices and operations in Singapore. This will certainly help to create a more vibrant maritime sector and further promote the growth of Singapore as an International Maritime Centre (IMC).

4.Since the inception of MPA in 1996 we have offered 43 scholarships for students to pursue degree programmes as well as 28 sponsorships for students to attend the various diploma and maritime-related degree programmes. To-date a total of 24 MPA Scholar had completed their studies and returned to work in different areas including the Hub Port, IMC, SMI groups as well as Technology and Corporate Services Division. Some of them had since attained leadership positions as Head of Department. A total of 19 MPA Sponsored Students had also completed their studies and started working in MPA, involving in our core operations such as Port Operations Control, Shipping and R & D.

5.Other than developing talents for itself, MPA is also committed to promote1manpower development for the maritime industry. Beginning in 2002, MPA together with the shipping employers and the local seafarer unions started providing scholarships for students to attend the sea-going diploma programmes at SMA under the TMSS and later the SAIL scholarships as part of our plan to build up the pool of local mariners. To-date, we have given out a total of 58 SAIL and TMSS Scholarships and all of them are at different stages of the training pipeline. Out of the 58, I am pleased to inform that 2 of them are already working on board ships as certificated officers to acquire the necessary sea-time to obtain the next higher level certificate of competency while another 3 students will do likewise after completing their national service. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our industry partners-the shipping employers and the seafarer unions for their support in both our SAIL and TMSS Scholarship Schemes.

6.To further enhance our effort in developing maritime manpower, Maritime Outreach NEtwork or MaritimeONE, was launched earlier this year to provide a platform for maritime stakeholders to collectively raise awareness of the maritime industry and attract quality manpower to the industry. This would be achieved through a range of partnership activities such as scholarships and internships with maritime companies, student outreach activities, and regular networking events for maritime employers and graduating students. I hope that you will be ambassadors of maritime and encourage your classmates to participate in MaritimeONE activities, so that they will be aware of the "Sea of Opportunities and Shore of Possibilities" available in the maritime industry.

7.I share the joy of the many proud parents who are here today to witness their children receiving the scholarship or sponsorship awards. I hope you will have an enjoyable dinner and an enjoyable evening ahead