Dated: 7 May 2004
The Media Development Authority (MDA) and the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) have signed a sponsorship agreement to support the training programmes conducted by the Centre for Literary Arts and Publishing (CLAP), the training arm of the NBDCS.
The agreement was signed today by Ms Valerie Cheng, the MDA's Co-director for Industry Development and Ms Lim Li Kok, the NBDCS' Acting Chairperson.
Under the agreement, the MDA will provide a grant of $30,000 to CLAP to support its operations and training programmes for a year, from April 2004 to March 2005. The MDA will endorse CLAP's wide range of training programmes covering reading, writing, editing, the business of publishing and rights and contracts pertaining to the publishing industry. The MDA will further publicise the training programmes through the MDA's website.
Said the MDA's Ms Cheng: "In the past year, the MDA announced various schemes under our Media 21 plan to develop our media industry. So far our schemes have covered the film, broadcasting and digital media sectors. The publishing sector is an integral part of our media industry too. Our partnership with the NBDCS is our modest first step to give the publishing sector a boost. We will continue to explore with the industry players to see how we can develop the publishing industry further."
Ms Cheng added, "One of our key strategies of developing our media industry is to nurture our talents. This is exactly what CLAP aims to do through its training programmes. By supporting CLAP, we are nurturing our publishing talents."
Ms Lim Li Kok, Acting Chairperson of the National Book Development Council of Singapore said, "CLAP is a major step forward for us. While serving the local publishing and literary arts scene, we will strive to make CLAP a regional training centre, attracting publishing and literary arts professionals to Singapore. We are confident that this is achievable, especially with dedicated partners like MDA and Kinokuniya."
Mr Hiroshi Sogo, General Manager, Kinokuniya Book Stores of Singapore Pte Ltd said, "This collaboration is an important achievement for Media Development Authority and National Book Development Council of Singapore, and for Books Kinokuniya, which is the first and exclusive books retailer in support of CLAP. Books Kinokuniya’s corporate vision aims at creating opportunities of contacts between cultures and civilisations and developing the growth of local cultures and talents with the aim of promoting better understanding amongst cultures. Hence, it is only natural for Books Kinokuniya and NBDCS to come together and work towards the achievement of our common objective in catering to the reading needs of the local population."
CLAP aims to serve the publishing and literary arts professionals in Singapore and the region and the NBDCS hopes to grow CLAP into a regional training centre for literary arts and publishing. A comprehensive series of 47 workshops covering the entire value chain of reading, writing and publishing has been lined up. The NBDCS has also engaged a range of local trainers with professional experience, as well as trainers from the Publishing Training Centre in the United Kingdom and Marketability UK Ltd, to conduct several of the courses. Please refer to Annex for details.
The publishing and printing sector in Singapore consistently achieved the highest operating receipts and exports amongst all the sub-sectors of the media industry. In 2003, the publishing sector contributed $208 million of investments to Singapore's media industry, which constituted 40 per cent of total media spending. Preliminary figures from a MDA survey of top publishing and printing companies also revealed that the sector achieved $1.4 billion of operating receipts of which $34 million were export sales, and employed more than 10,000 personnel.
For further information, please contact:
Media Development Authority of Singapore
Ms Yvonne Poh
Assistant Manager, Communications
Email: yvonne _poh@imda.gov.sg
National Book Development Council of Singapore
Ms Joyce Tan
Executive Director
Email: joyce@nbdcs.org.sg
Kinokuniya Book Stores of Singapore Pte Ltd
Ms Chua Gek Huay
Department Manager
Corporate Relations Department
Email: GHChua@kinokuniya.co.jp
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