IRs Will Not Dominate Singapore's Diversified Economy: PM Lee

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 10 September 2007

SINGAPORE : Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said the two integrated resorts (IRs) will not dominate Singapore's diversified economy.

But they will help shed, what he called, the country's "museum" image.

He told Bloomberg in an interview that "The IRs are not going to be Singapore. This is not going to be like Macau, where the casinos are the economy. We are not a museum, we are a living city, we have to evolve.

"This is not 1950s Singapore, this is Singapore in the 21st century. Our policies have to change."

The government expects to double the number of overseas visitors to 17 million annually.

Tourism receipts are expected to triple to S$30 billion (US$20 billion) by 2015. - CNA/ch