By Crystal Chan

SOME retail outlets have rolled out the red carpet for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) delegates by offering discounts.

Others have decided that if delegates want to shop, they will do so whether or not there are discounts, and are not offering special deals.

The Cookie Museum in the Esplanade is offering a free pot of tea and cookies to Apec delegates, without them having to buy anything. The deal is available until Sunday.

The price of a pot of tea ranges from $12 to $15. A tin of cookies costs between $38 and $45.

And as part of the Apec Delegates Social Programme, delegates have complimentary admission to 13 local attractions, including the Singapore Flyer and all museums under the National Heritage Board.

A Singapore Flyer spokesman said the promotion was a tie-up between the Ministry of Trade and Industry and DuckTours, which is one of the Flyer's ticketing agents.

The New Paper understands the free admission to museums is to give the delegates a chance to see another part of Singapore, other than the inside of Apec meeting venues.

About 10,000 delegates, including leaders, ministers and staff, are expected for the week-long event.

Singapore Retailers Association's executive director, Ms Lau Chuen Wei, told The New Paper that only a few retailers are extending special privileges to Apec delegates.

Mr Steven Goh, the spokesman for the Orchard Road Business Association, said past experience has shown that if delegates want to shop, they will, and they will be looking for brands and quality.

So the association is doing nothing beyond bringing forward the Christmas light-up, which began last Saturday .

Mr Eldwin Chua, the owner of Paradise Group Holdings, which has restaurants at the Singapore Flyer and Ion Orchard, said: "Since the end of last week, we've had a few reservations from Apec groups. We won't go out of our way to offer discounts to the delegates."

He said he instructed restaurant managers to advise Apec groups wanting to make reservations on the best options for different price levels.

Mr Chua explained: "There were groups that asked for a private room (at the Ion Orchard restaurant branch) for six to 60 people and gave us a budget to work around."

Some shops which offered discounts and deals for delegates at the S2006, the 2006 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, are not doing so this time round.

TCC: The Coffee Connoisseur, which has outlets in Suntec City and Citylink Mall, is not offering any Apec discount although it had promotions for the S2006 meetings .

Its spokesman said: "We didn't see any impact on customer traffic during S2006, so we have decided not to offer any discounts this year.'