S'pore booster for aviation skills

SINGAPORE will spend more than US$1 million (S$1.4 million) to train 180 civil aviation officials from developing countries over the next three years.

This is on top of the US$2.2 million that has already gone into Singapore-International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) fellowships for 370 officials since 2001.

The tie-up was renewed yesterday in a memorandum of understanding inked by Transport Minister Raymond Lim and ICAO head Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez.

For Singapore, putting resources into the training of foreigners was a show of its commitment to aiding human resource development in aviation, said Mr Lim.

At the event at the Singapore Aviation Academy, both he and Mr Kobeh stressed the importance of training to increase standards within the industry, even during a downturn.

Mr Lim said: 'Training and re- training are needed as the aviation world undergoes tremendous change to cope with the effects of the economic downturn and prepare for the eventual upturn.'

Asked about the industry's prospects for recovery, Mr Kobeh was cautiously optimisitic.

'At this time, it is extremely difficult to forecast,' he said, but added that data from ICAO's member states and international financial institutions like the World Bank indicated that 'signals of stabilisation are showing'.

Both he and Mr Lim also addressed the issue of aviation safety, in the light of recent accidents such as the Bangkok Airways crash in Koh Samui on Tuesday.

ICAO figures show a cheering trend - that the air accident rate went down from 19 accidents per million departures in 1990 to four accidents per million departures last year. The absolute number of fatal accidents also fell from 29 in 1990 to 11 last year.

Nevertheless, Mr Lim called for aviation safety to be 'assiduously guarded'.

Mr Kobeh is in Singapore for the World Civil Aviation Chief Executives Forum, which ends today. More than 100 aviation officials have gathered to discuss the industry's issues and challenges.

On Wednesday, he visited Temasek Polytechnic, which now has almost 400 aviation and aerospace students.

Noting the next decade will bring a wave of retirements, he said planning was needed to avoid a potentially 'disastrous' lack of qualified personnel.