SDU aims to accredit 30 dating agencies by 2010
By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 02 November 2007 1958 hrs

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SINGAPORE: The Social Development Unit (SDU) aims to have 30 dating agencies accredited in Singapore by 2010, and industry players said this will then pave the way for an association of matchmaking companies to be formed.

Five dating agencies are set to undergo training in December to prepare to be accredited, and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) said more will be done to help level up these companies.

"We will spend money to invite international (experts) to come here to share with our people. We are working with the WDA (Workforce Development Agency), Ministry of Manpower's training wing, to train the practitioners and… the owners (on) how to make this industry more sustainable, and also (to) make it… a business case," said MCYS Minister of State Yu-Foo Yee Shoon at the third annual Partner Connection Trade Seminar.

Apart from the technical know-how, dating agencies with a good business model and novel ideas will also get financial help from the ministry.

The Partner Connection Fund, which was launched last year, gave out seed money totalling some S$170,000 to five companies that offer services such as online date profiling, speed dating, movie dates and events where singles can mingle.

"They need people to notice them; they need more clients. And once there is revenue, they can move on. It's like in (other) businesses - how do you get the attention? I think… some funding is needed for stronger marketing and communication to support them," said the Partner Connection Fund evaluation panel’s co-chair Claire Chiang.

Support can also come from other similar agencies. The co-founder of Baihe.com, one of China's top dating websites, Dr Jason Tian pointed out, agencies need to work with each other.

Baihe.com has nine million members currently, and it got 100,000 of them hitched since it was formed less than three years ago.

But unlike the Chinese market, Dr Tian said the singles market in Singapore is relatively small, and may pose a challenge to businesses.

With about half a million singles in Singapore, he said the number of singles here is about one per cent of China’s.

"If there're only five dating agencies, maybe they can all survive and grow. But if there are 20, they need to compete, there may be price wars, or the dating agencies’ marketing costs will rise, so this may lead to a failure… I think the case is to encourage cooperation instead of competition. I look at all these companies' business, they are very complementary," said Dr Tian.

Industry players said there is also potential for local dating agencies to go regional as there are fewer competitors in the Southeast Asian market. Doing so will not only help reduce operating cost, but also expand their customer base by up to ten times.

Besides, the SDU will share its matchmaking portal with dating agencies, and the Partner Connection Fund is in talks with MediaCorp to produce dating programmes. - CNA/ac