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Singapore is launching yet another campaign to promote dating among its notoriously love-shy singles as the city-state grapples with low birth and marriage rates.

The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) issued a tender this month through the government's official procurement website calling for proposals on how to encourage singles to date.

It comes amid falling marriage and fertility rates in the tiny but affluent island-state with a population of about five million, more than one million of whom are foreigners.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong previously warned that Singapore's fertility rate had dipped to its lowest level ever at 1.23 babies per woman in 2009, down from 1.28 in 2008. This is well below the 2.1 replacement rate needed for a stable population.

The marriage rate hit 6.6 marriages per 1,000 residents in 2009, down from 7.8 in 1999, the Straits Times said, citing government statistics.

Declining and aging populations are causing political stress right across the globe with fears of an unprecedented slowdown in economic growth as the demographic shift occurs.