Tourism in Singapore: Retail industry to ride on growth in tourism sector

By Lynda Hong

SINGAPORE: The retail industry should expand over the next few years, riding on the growing tourism industry.

That is why training institutes like the Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS) play an important role, according to Minister of State for Education and Manpower, Gan Kim Yong.


Speaking at a graduation ceremony on Wednesday, Mr Gan said quality training is necessary to develop a professional workforce that can strengthen Singapore's competitive edge. Almost 270 trainees who completed courses on retail were awarded the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) certificates.

This latest batch of trainees brings the number of those trained by SIRS to 18,000 since its inception two years ago. The institute aims to train another 12,000 people this year.