Singapore Continues To Build Large Convention Ctrs.

<I>Singapore</I> - Although its been less than two years since the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre opened, the city-state has begun increasing the venue supply for shows and conferences.

A new Mega Exhibition Center is being constructed on a 60-acre site in eastern Singapore near Changi International Airport; the government-owned facility will nearly double the state's non-hotel exhibition and meeting space.

The $107 million project is part of Singapore's Tourism 21 master plan, designed to further develop the nation as a travel center and help it to compete more effectively in the meetings and conventions market.

The first phase of MEC, expected to be completed in early 1999, will incorporate 196,860 square feet of indoor space, with an additional 65,620 square feet of outdoor exhibition space. Another 131,240 square feet will be added at a later date.

The initial phase of the project will include a conference room accommodating up to 2,000 delegates. The MEC site sits on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit line, which is under construction, and will connect to Changi Airport when it's finished in 2001.

One of the motivations behind the MEC is the planned demolition of two exhibition halls at the World Trade Center to make way for construction of the North-East MRT line, which will terminate there. WTC's Halls 1 and 2, totaling nearly 32,810 square feet, will be leveled next January.

But until the MEC opens, the larger shows will be divided between two of Singapore's three convention and exhibition sites.

Besides the two halls at the World Trade Center that are scheduled for demolition, the WTC includes five other halls, totaling 78,182 square feet and a 12,539-square-foot pavilion. The facility also incorporates a shopping center with 100 shops and 16 restaurants.

Another conference venue, the Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Center, located in Marina Center in the city's downtown area, opened in August 1995 as part of the Suntec City complex, which also incorporates two office buildings and a shopping mall.

SICEC includes a large exhibition hall and convention hall, ballroom, 26 meeting rooms accommodating 20 to 400 people and an auditorium seating 600. There also are two restaurants and six concession stands.

Singapore's third convention facility, the International Merchandise Mart located in the industrial suburb of Jurong, targets slightly smaller events.

The conference center includes an exhibition hall and two meeting rooms, one accommodating 220 and the other 300 delegates, and six restaurants.