EVEN as the Internet competes with magazines for readership and advertising dollars, it also offers publishers tremendous opportunities in branding and interactivity, as well as innovative, alternative ways to grow profit.

Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Dr Lee Boon Yang, said this at the opening ceremony of the World Magazine Marketplace (WMM) on Monday.

The two-day event, one of the world's biggest magazine trade events, is being held at Singapore's Suntec Convention Centre.

Previous WMMs have always been held in London, but event organiser International Federation of the Periodical Press decided to hold this year's event - its seventh - in Singapore in view of the 'growing importance of the magazine industry in the region,' said IFPP chairman Pierre Lamuniere.

This move has paid off, with the event attracting an unprecedented 450 participants and exhibitors, he said.

In his opening address, Dr Lee said that even as the number of magazine industry here grows, it is facing increasing challenge from 'rapid digital media developments and the Internet'.

There are now over 3,000 publishing and printing companies here, of which 700 publish books, journals, magazines and other print products.

These developments, from YouTube to FaceBook, 'will pose strong competition for the consumer's time and money, and for a share of the advertising dollar,' said Dr Lee.

But the Internet also offers publishers opportunities in branding and marketing, he said.

Publishers can also use the Internet to monetise its archived content or and offer on-demand content, he said.

Concurring, Mr Ho Sum Kwong, President of the Magazine Publishers Association of Singapore (MPAS), said: 'Magazines will have no choice but to engage the Internet platform if they want to move forward and not backwards.'

His lifestyle magazine, Appetite, is going online when it launches a new website that will provide updates to previous restaurant reviews, and engages readers by allowing them to vote on their favourite wine, among other features. The new site will be up by next year.

Another publishing group, The Lexicon Group, is also revamping the websites of its stable of titles like Wine & Dine, Smart Investor and New Man.

Previously, all it had were 'static websites' that duplicated the print version.

The sites are being revamped, said its president for Singapore publications, Mr Azhar Khalid.

When completed in January, readers can look forward to 'a lot more interactivity', he promised.

Publishers can also use different medium to cater to users with different needs, said Singapore Press Holdings Magazines chief executive officer Loh Yew Seng.

Print, he said, allows for a 'touch and feel' experience, while online publications cater to those with 'urgent requirements, instant needs'.

So, having both print and online publications allows a publisher to meet the needs of all readers and advertisers, he said.

Publishers who need help to get started can seek MPAS' advice, said Mr Ho.

As an industry association, it is working on helping publishers here exploit the Internet, he said, by offering training and other resources to publishers here so that every magazine here will 'at least have a website', added Mr Ho.