Singapore 2006

Pico Art International, a local event marketing corporation, was assigned to prepare the event venue. Pico had participated in major past events such as the 117th IOC Session, 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2004 Summer Olympics. They built over a thousand double storey offices in 35 days, or three office units per hour.[6] The structures within the convention centre were taken down nine days after the meetings. These double storey offices were air-conditioned, equipped with lighting, telephones and internet connection. It had 41 staircases and five elevators. One thousand tons of steel, over 100,000 pieces of wall panels, 25,000 m² of carpeting, 32,000 pieces of ceiling boards, 3,000 lights and 15,000 pieces of furniture were needed for the construction of these offices.[7]

The main venue, Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, received a facelift with an upgraded lobby, entrance and a facade which was lighted at night. 100,000 flowers and shrubs were used to beautify the landscape around the area as well as other parts of the island, including Orchard Road, Suntec's vicinity as well as the East Coast Parkway. These plants included frangipani trees, fox palms and heliconias, as well as other types of plants, coming in different colours, shapes and sizes, planted along pavements and road dividers. This showcased the tropical plants of the island to the world as well.[8] Flyovers and the City Hall undergone repainting and works to repave the areas near Suntec City were pushed forward to prepare for the annual meetings. Also, walkways have been resurfaced by the Land Transport Authority.[9] At Singapore Changi Airport, posters were put around the terminals of the airport to welcome the delegates from different countries.

A typical banner found on the roads in the city centre of Singapore, promoting the event.

A campaign known as Four Million Smiles was launched in July 2006 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to prepare the service sector for the event. Lim Hwee Hwa is the Minister appointed to lead the Organising Committee of the event.

As Singapore had been a prime terrorism target and because of violent protests at previous meets in other cities, the government used this to justify maintaining overwhelming amounts of security in and around the vicinity of the main events. The Singapore Police Force was entrusted with planning and implementing security arrangements and the enforcement of law and order, with the support of Aetos and CISCO auxiliary police forces. These arrangements include the main venue's operations, border security, as well as island-wide operations.[10]

Over 10,000 police officers[11] are being deployed in the Marina Centre area and other meeting and event venues, including Police national servicemen called back as part of their reservist obligations and officers from the Volunteer Special Constabulary. The traffic police deployed officers at all key junctions to direct traffic due to road closures, officers from the Gurkha Contingent and the Key Installation Protection Unit conduct patrols around the vicinity and at entrances to the barricaded areas, while regular officers ensure law and order within the convention venue and in surrounding hotels.

A group of CISCO auxiliary policemen patrolling the areas inside Suntec City Mall.

Security is exceptionally tight in the Suntec City area, with barricades being put up near the area's vicinity. The Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre has been closed to public during this period, and several car park entrances to the mall have been closed to the public. During the event, Suntec City and the convention centre is being taken care of by the Singapore Police Force and CISCO Security, with many policemen patrolling the mall and the convention centre. Vehicle checks are done by the police when they enter the carparks. The overhead bridge from CityLink Mall to Suntec City has been closed to the public for the meetings. A security office has been temporarily built at the main entrance of Suntec City Mall with metal detectors and x-ray machines being installed, and other security facilities. These machines have also been installed at SICEC for the delegates and CSO protestors.

Meetings and other events will officially commence on this day. 23,000 delegates had registered on this day to attend the meetings. The Singapore Changi Airport officially completes renovations at Terminal 2 after three years of upgrading. The IMF chief Rodrigo de Rato has criticised attempts made by the United States, People's Republic of China and some other nations to depress fuel prices, and advocated raising prices, instead of tax breaks or subsidies at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries seminar on the first day of the conference. He added that domestic pricing policies for refined fuel should reflect the scarcity of the resource, and high world crude oil prices. He acknowledged there would be some political resistance to raise the oil prices, but he mentioned successful experiences in Indonesia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. He called for adequate investment in the oil industry to ease concerns about oil supply in the later years, and appealed oil producing countries to balance the spending and savings for future generations.[16] The IMF warned that the global markets faces a risk of a major setback, including an economic downturn in the United States, falling home prices, further surge in oil prices, interest rate rises to contain inflationary pressures, which the IMF said in its twice a year report on global financial stability.[17]

The inaugural Raffles Forum was held at Raffles City Convention Centre, with one plenary session on this day. At SSICEC, there was a World Economic Outlook meeting. The IMF predicted that the growth in the economy will increase, but there could be global imbalances.

United Kingdom's group of delegates arrived in Singapore, including Chancellor of the Exchequer as well as chairman of the International Monetary and Financial Committee Gordon Brown and Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England.[18] There were also press briefings by both the IMF and the World Bank Group. The police allowed the 22 out of the 27 banned activists into Singapore, after an appeal from the IMF/World Bank Group.

A one-day G7 finance ministers meeting is held at Raffles Hotel to discuss the world's economy. The three day Program of Seminars commences with 161 speakers at the event, attendees include private sector representatives, government delegates, civil society representatives and senior officials from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Topics discussed include economic growth, the future of China and India, regional issues and faster economic growth of the Pacific Islands, ageing population in Asia, petrol prices, preventing a financial crisis, oil trade, poverty, trade agreements and other Asian issues.

People's Republic of China, though not a G7 industralised nations member, is expected to loom large, with the minister and central bankers to press Beijing to further ease controls of the Renminbi. The agenda of the meeting is about what will be seen as dangerous imbalances in the global economy. The United States has run up massive accounts and budget deficits, export-led surpluses are developing in Asia. It also marks the debut to the G7 meetings, that is United States Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who was formerly the chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs. The United States wants the fight against terrorism and nuclear proliferation to be included on the agenda.[19] The Program of Seminars opens on this day and runs for two days. The G24 ministers meeting will be held at SSICEC as well as the Program of Seminars.

The second day of the Program of Seminars began, and an International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) meeting held. Press conferences of African finance ministers as well as Gordon Brown and de Rato were held at SSICEC. The World Bank announced that they will provide a US$15 million grant to combat bird flu in Indonesia.[20] Seven lenders united and signed an agreement to combat corruption, these banks include the IMF and the World Bank. Also, CSOs discussed on several issues regarding daily issues.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong attended the day's meetings. The Program of Seminars ends on this day and delegates discussed about the future of global economy, poverty and the future of Asia. Ministers of the members of the International Monetary Fund approved a plan to give more powers and voting rights to People's Republic of China, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey. This vote had 90.6% of the members supporting the move. However, the IMF remains dominated by Europe, the United States and Japan. China has less power in the IMF, although its economy is larger than Belgium and Netherlands combined. The IMF and World Bank have been criticised by Brazil, Argentina, Asian and African nations for prescribing severe belt-tightening measures during their economic crisis. The American government sees the reform of the IMF to redress global economic imbalances, which were cited as one of the biggest menaces to world growth. The IMF is stepping up in its financial surveillance through multilateral consultations to make it more effective and relevant.[21] The World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz said that the poor should not be abandoned because their governments are weak, otherwise the people would be penalised twice. The IMF and World Bank see the need to combat corruption in developing countries. The World Bank will work with developing countries by working with countries or offered through projects on the countries itself. Wolfowitz said that the issue of governance is being addressed, and the most important thing is to take the principles in the paper, applying it in terms of budget allocation. Matters may be complicated due to lack of political will. He added that working with developing countries is a starting point and must work with banks, global organisations and other governments to stop corruption in their nations.[22] African nations also called for more voting rights in the IMF for countries in their continent, at forums held in Africa itself.

The plenary sessions commenced on this day with an opening ceremony hosted by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong at Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay that night for some 5,000 official delegates with an official reception. The building was closed to public the entire day for the evening event. Several music and dance events were performed by several local arts groups. A buffet spread was also included in the opening ceremony. After a tour at the waterfront, the guests were led into the concert hall for "Diaspora", which is a mixed media production, combining music, video and drama of five Asian artists searching for their identities. The production itself was made by local arts company TheatreWorks, and it costs S$700,000 (US$437,500). The delegates sang praises of the production with one saying the music played by the orchestra is good, one of the stories told about the different cultures, ages and trying to find yourself, another said the production was colourful and diverse, with a lot of life in it.[23] At the finale of the event, a ten-minute display of fireworks at the Marina Bay transformed the area into a multi-cultural street with segments of Chinatown and Little India.

At the plenary sessions, addresses were made by the chairman of the year's annual meetings, as well as the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank at SSICEC. The three parties stressed the need for the World Trade Organization's Doha Round talks to resume. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the impasse in the Doha Round of trade negotiations carries a heavy cost and a high risk, and will extend beyond economics. Lee added that good governance is the key to help economies to open up in the era of globalisation and improve the lives for the people. He also outlined the roles of a good government in managing the process of changes. Lee said that governments must win the support of globalisation from the people and give them better opportunities. At the opening speech of IMF managing director Rodrigo de Rato said the world leaders must quickly revive the Doha Round of trade talks to prevent a damaging shift towards protectionism. De Rato also said that the world is having a period of high growth and low inflation unseen since the 1960s, and a solid growth in the economy could be expected in the following year. He added that the global growth cycle may turn and the best hope for good performance lies in further increase in international trade. The three risks to world economic prospects include rising oil prices, disorderly unwinding of global payments imbalances, and the prevention of trade. World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz told donor countries to increase aid to poor nations, and wealthy nations to put Africa as the top of the priority list of poverty fighting.[24]

The IMF and World Bank heads agreed to do more for reform work in the system, including giving more powers to developing economies as they play a bigger role in the world's economy. The leaders warned the global growth cycle may change and further increases to international trade will guarantee an ensured performance. The IMF is trying to serve its members better and a Multilateral Consultation was to address global payment imbalances. The delegates paid tribute to Asia's economic growth and successes such as job creation and progress through private sector development as well as a good government.[25]

The event and the plenary sessions ended on this day, with the main achievement of member countries that they supported the IMF reform programme. The majority have also supported the second phase of reforms to revise the quota formula. The meeting was attended by 3,400 delegates. IMF managing director, de Rato was delighted with the overwhelming support of the support in the revision of quotas and the voice in the organisation. The IMF and the World Bank thanked the country for hosting the annual meetings, Mr De Rato mentioned that he had seems thousands of smiles from the Four Million Smiles campaign. He praised Singapore for not only being a city of enterprising people but also a city that makes strangers feel like friends.[26]