The country is making plans to reopen the country to vaccinated business travelers from several countries on carefully controlled itineraries.
Singapore is in talks with Germany, Australia, Canada and South Korea to be the first batch of countries to allow business travel, trade minister Gan Kim Yong said in an interview with «Bloomberg» on Tuesday.
Factors like infections, vaccination rates and the ability to control outbreaks will be considered in these discussions, according to the minister.
«We will need to pilot-run some of this with an organised itinerary, probably with organised tour groups, to be able to find ways to bubble-wrap them for the journey and with specific designated places that they can visit,» Gan said, adding that there is a possibility of leisure travel to countries with a lower infection rate.
Positive Outlook
Last week, the Ministry of Trade and Industry reported a better-than-expected 7.7 percent year-on-year GDP growth, citing the stabilizing Covid-19 situation and progress in the country's vaccination program. It also revised its GDP growth forecast to 6–7 percent, up from 4–6 percent forecast in May.
The city-state has targeted for 80 percent of its population to be fully vaccinated by September. The figure currently stands at 76 percent, according to «Bloomberg's» Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker.
