IATA INKS MOU TO MAINTAIN SINGAPORE AS REGIONAL OFFICE

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- The Geneva-based International Air Transport
Association (IATA) Thursday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the
Singapore government to maintain the city-state as its Asia-Pacific regional
office.

The MoU was signed by IATA Director-General and Chief Executive Officer
Giovanni Bisignani and Singapore's Transport Minister Raymond Lim here.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Lim lauded IATA for its pivotal role in
developing the civil aviation industry and expressed optimism on the benefits of
IATA's continued presence in Singapore to the region.

"With its close working relations with other strategically important
aviation bodies, national aviation bodies in other countries and ICAO
(International Civil Aviation Organisation), IATA is able to influence the
thinking of decision-makers in the industry, international organisations and
even governments," Lim said.

IATA established its Asia-Pacific regional office in Singapore in 1994, and
since then, the aviation industry in this region has benefitted from its
presence here.

The office which employs 80 staff, covers a range of IATA's work including
teams dedicated to industry advocacy, communications and technical issues such
as safety, operations, infrastructure development and security.

The Singapore office is also the hub for IATA's financial systems in the
region which process over S$45 billion (US$35 billion) in settlements annually.
-- BERNAMA