Restructuring the small-scale retail sector in Singapore
Loo Lee Sim

Introduction
Performance of the retail sector Singapore's retail sector has been in the doldrums over the last few years. The retail sales index shows sales increasing very slowly over the past three years (Figure 1). Except for festive periods (Christmas and Chinese New Year) and the period of the great Singapore sale (June/July), sales have been poor. Compared to sales, the supply of retail space has been increasing more rapidly. Figure 2 shows that a great deal of retail space has come on-stream over the last few years. By the end of 1997, an estimated 185,880 square metres were released (Urban Redevelopment Authority, 1997). The amount of retail space released over the last few years has led to a steady fall in the occupancy rate and this will be aggravated by another 195,170 square metres coming onstream from 1998-2001(Urban Redevelopment Authority, 1997). In addition to the glut in retail space, a decline in tourism will also affect the retail sector adversely. Tourist arrivals for the first quarter of 1998 declined by nearly 20 per cent compared to the first quarter of 1997. Arrivals from the Asian region have fallen as a result of the currency crisis. The haze, caused by fires in Indonesia and Malaysia, has also deterred visitors from Europe, the USA and elsewhere. In view of the gloomy prospects facing the retail sector, it is timely to review the measures taken by the Singapore Government to restructure the sector, compare these with measures adopted in other countries, and recommend further steps which can be taken to make the retail sector more competitive. As this paper focuses on the small shop, a working guideline of what is meant by small shop is provided in the next section.

The author Loo Lee Sim is an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore, Singapore.