I am glad to be here at the official launch of FairPrice Online.

The NTUC network of cooperatives has played an important role in providing basic goods and services to the public, ranging from supermarket, dental care, childcare, health care products, insurance and many others. Hence, during this on-going recession, NTUC FairPrice had pledged to keep 400 items in a basket of cut-price items to help consumers facing severe wage restraints and unemployment. NTUC Income had also introduced a $30 million package to help policyholders cope with tough times. This is certainly a relief for many Singaporeans.

Besides doing its part to moderate the impact of recession, NTUC cooperatives are also exploring innovative ideas to benefit their members. FairPrice Online is one such initiative. It enables customers to shop for household essentials and groceries online. FairPrice Online is a collaboration between NTUC FairPrice and NTUC Income. This partnership allows FairPrice to leverage on Income�s IT platform and billing system. Hence, FairPrice Online shoppers who are Income policyholders paying their premiums by GIRO, can now pay for their online purchases together with their GIRO premium payments. The sharing of a billing system lends a competitive edge and added convenience to this new mode of service delivery. Income has over 1 million policyholders. Many are also members of FairPrice Cooperative, or customers of the supermarket chain. FairPrice Online offers an integration of services which will benefit them.

With FairPrice Online, customers can view goods from their homes and place their orders through the Internet. No need to jostle in crowded aisles. No need to spend time queuing to pay for the items bought. And home delivery is done efficiently. Over and above everything else, customers continue to earn rebates from their purchases if they are FairPrice members. Popularizing FairPrice Online will also help to bring Internet applications to more people. Already, many housewives and retirees had attended the Basic Computer and Internet courses under the National IT Literacy Programme. They can now apply these skills to help them shop for household necessities from the comfort of their homes or from the nearest PC terminal.

FairPrice Online is a result of these two cooperatives sharing their expertise to provide an innovative service to the public. Income provides the IT capability while FairPrice provides the goods at very competitive prices. By pooling resources, the two NTUC cooperatives have added value to their services to the public.

I was informed that since its soft launch in April 01, the response has been very encouraging and that FairPrice Online now registers over 4,000 members. I hope that in time to come, FairPrice Online will prove to be a popular shopping site for Singaporeans and people will find buying groceries online an efficient way of meeting family needs.

Thank you.