KUCHING: Singapore’s core strategy of source diversification is an opportunity for Sarawak to enter the market there.
“They do not rely on just one source for their products,” said Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office Singapore (Statos) chief executive officer Chew Chang Guan during the ‘Talking About What Really Matters’ forum at Chemsain Building here on Friday.
He shared what he believed the state could invest in to improve trade between Sarawak and Singapore.
One of his suggestions was investment in high-tech agriculture farms.
“Singapore does not have land but they need food. Perhaps we can work with them and get them to invest in Sarawak.”
He also suggested a Singapore-Sarawak Furniture Park, a collaboration to produce high quality furniture for export.
Chew pointed out there were many things that Sarawak could sell to Singapore, such as Sarawak being a weekend getaway destination as well as a place for education tourism.
Touching on potential exporters to Singapore, he advised, “If you want to enter the Singaporean market, the product has to be unique otherwise you will be wasting your time and money”.
He explained that as the market was very competitive, giving the example of Sundrop marketing their Tropical Lime Juice and Black Coffee products there instead of their Orange Juice product as there were too many orange juice competitors in Singapore.
He added that there were rules and standards that had to be complied with in order to export food products to Singapore.
“The Singapore Food Agency controls all food items entering Singapore. Labelling is also important, as well as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification,” Chew said.
