Sifting through the options to help a once-glorious sector

Singapore

INDICATIONS of possible government support have thrown the spotlight on the beleaguered offshore and marine (O&M) sector in Singapore, and the role it plays in the wider economy.

When Minister of Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran announced on Monday that the government was assessing the need for measures to help the sector, he had stressed its importance to the economy. O&M accounted for 1.5 per cent or S$5.49 billion of the economy last year, though this was lower than the 2.1 per cent or S$7.15 billion of the year before. (The figures look set to shrink more this year; the Ministry of Trade and Industry's second-quarter economic data points to a 30 per cent contraction in sectorial output.)