Another Step Forward For Mice Industry With Latest Large-Scale Event

Eateries hope curbs can be eased soon for F&B sector

- Anjali Raguraman

Singapore’s economic reopening took another big step forward with the start of Restaurant Asia 2021 yesterday, which is expected to be the largest meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (Mice) event held here to date since Covid-19 curbs were eased.

The three-day food and beverage (F&B) symposium and trade show is slated to draw 1,000 people a day.

It joins two other events this week – the Milken Institute Asia Summit and Bloomberg New Economy Forum – where large business gatherings are allowed with fully vaccinated attendees who have been tested for Covid-19.

Around 300 international business and government leaders attended the ongoing Bloomberg forum on Wednesday, while the Milken summit, which ended on Tuesday, saw networking zones of up to 200 people.

Unlike the other two events, however, no pre-event testing is required for Restaurant Asia 2021. The Straits Times understands that all participants are locally based, including non-Singaporeans, and are fully vaccinated.

The F&B event, which returns after an almost two-year hiatus, will run until tomorrow.

Enhanced safety measures include pre-registration of all participants, and limits on the time they can spend in one of five zones.

Around 500 participants are allowed at each of the morning and afternoon sessions, and the event space is disinfected between sessions.

At the opening ceremony, Mr Andrew Kwan, president of the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS), called for an increase in dining capacity to eight people to help the battered F&B industry get back on its feet.