ASSISTANCE TO DECLINING WHOLESALE TRADE

Mr Lee Teck Him asked the Minister for Finance whether he has any proposals to assist the wholesale trade in view of the importance of that trade to the economy of Singapore and in view of the decline in that trade, a situation which is not eased by the practice whereby some local manufacturers do not distribute their goods through wholesalers but sell direct to retailers.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Sir, trade in Singapore, far from declining, is, in fact, on the increase. For the 12-month period ending July 1967, external trade totalled $7,783.3 million which exceeds the volume of trade in 1959, a record year. In the last 12 months, i.e., August 1966 to July 1967, imports have increased by 9.7 per cent and exports by 10.8 per cent over the similar period August 1965 to July 1966. Prospects are therefore very good that 1967 will register the highest ever volume of trade done in the history of the Republic.

Reflecting the increase in trade is the amount of cargo loaded and discharged in Singapore. Thus for the 12-month period ending in July 1967, cargo discharged amounted to 17.9 million freight tons. Cargo loaded was 11.4 million freight tons, which exceeds the annual volume of cargo handled in the past eight years. There is therefore no need to give assistance to trade or in any way interfere with the free competition in our trade.

Mr Lee Teck Him: (In Mandarin): Sir, what I asked in my question is about manufacturers selling their goods to retailers direct, which is not the correct way of doing business. Will the Minister answer to the point?

Dr Goh Keng Swee: I beg your pardon, Sir.

Mr Speaker: Dr Goh, if I may paraphrase the Member's supplementary. He would like to know if you will do anything to ease the situation for wholesalers, a situation which is aggravated by local manufacturers selling direct to retailers and not through wholesalers. The Member's apparent concern is in the last three lines of his question.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: I see no reason to help wholesalers because if a local manufacturer can cut out one stage in the circulation of his goods, that means the consumer gets his goods at a cheaper price. Therefore, wholesalers who suffer from this should change their occupation to other lines which are more in keeping with their usefulness to the economy.

Mr Lee Teck Him: (In Mandarin): Sir, I do not quite understand what the Minister has said. What I asked is that manufacturers should sell their goods to the wholesalers and not direct to the retailers. I would like the Minister to pay attention to this point. The reason is that manufacturers are producing in large quantities. If the goods are not sold to the wholesalers or the agents, then the wholesalers and the agents will not have any goods to sell to the retailers and consumers. If the manufacturers sell direct to the retailers, what are the wholesalers or agents going to do?

Mr Speaker: Dr Goh, can you repeat your answer?

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Sir, if the manufacturer sells direct to the retailers and does not make use of the wholesalers, it means the services of the wholesalers are unnecessary. There is no point in making use of unnecessary economic services and paying these people. Therefore, if they are out of job, they should go and do something else.

Mr Lee Teck Him: (In Mandarin): Sir, allow me several minutes more to ask another question.

Mr Speaker: Order. Mr Lee, if you have a supplementary, please ask it. I cannot allow a debate. If you are not happy with the Minister's answer, there are other devices whereby you can criticise the Minister, but you cannot do by way of a supplementary that asks no question.

Mr Lee Teck Him: (In Mandarin): Thank you, Sir. We should look into this situation where many manufacturers are now selling their products direct to the retailers. The manufacturers ought to sell their goods to the wholesalers or agents so that they may make a living. If the manufacturers sell direct to the consumers, to me or to you, how are they going to make a living? They must sell to the wholesalers. It should be the case for manufacturers to sell to wholesalers.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Sir, those who are in the manufacturing business are there in business. They are not charitable institutions to support families of wholesalers.