Singapore

SINGAPORE: Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday (Aug 4) agreed on the importance of ensuring that COVID-19 vaccines will be made available globally. Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said, in a telephone call that Dr Balakrishnan received from Mr Pompeo, the two discussed collaboration in the research and development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. They also talked about the possibility of leveraging the strong US commercial presence in Singapore, including in pharmaceuticals, said MFA in a press statement. The statement added: “Both sides welcome the new areas of bilateral cooperation in infrastructure and trade as well as customs facilitation which will increase bilateral trade and st...

The Japanese government on Wednesday announced it will partially roll back entry restrictions as part of its coronavirus countermeasures on foreign nationals, allowing students and business workers with valid legal status to be gradually readmitted to the country. The rule change will affect just under 200,000 foreign nationals seeking to enter Japan. Those eligible will comprise about 103,000 permanent residents, long-term residents and spouses of Japanese nationals or permanent residents. Those permanent residents as well as long-term residents had been able to return to Japan if they had left the country before the ban was introduced or on humanitarian grounds, such as a relative’s death or a health emergency. But with this announcement, about 88,000 high-skilled workers and students ...

SINGAPORE: Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), one of Singapore's biggest private-sector employers, said on Wednesday (Jul 15) it was laying off staff as part of cost-cutting measures in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The resort, which is owned by Genting Singapore, declined to say how many staff members were affected when contacted by CNA. As of the end of last year, it had more than 7,000 full-time employees. RWS said in a statement it had already "reviewed all costs", eliminated non-essential spending and cut the salaries of management by up to 30 per cent, but had to make the "difficult decision" to retrench employees. "The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought about challenging economic times globally, generating a devastating impact on the tourism industry," RWS said. "In this...

SINGAPORE: OCBC customers can now use their SingPass to log in to their accounts with the bank, the lender said on Thursday (Jul 16). This comes after OCBC rolled out the use of SingPass Mobile app on Jul 4 as an alternative login to access its digital bank services. The bank said that it is the first lender in Singapore to enable the use of SingPass for digital banking services. It can be used to log in to OCBC's Mobile Banking app or Internet banking. In a media release, the bank said the use of SingPass to log in to OCBC's digital banking platforms eliminates the need for customers to remember multiple access codes and PINs. This will "especially benefit" customers who do not use fingerprint or facial biometrics, it said. OCBC said it has 1.8 million digital customers. HOW IT W...

SINGAPORE: Malaysian Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong has confirmed that a signing ceremony will be held on Jul 30 to finalise the agreements between Singapore and Malaysia to proceed with the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project. In a parliamentary oral reply on Tuesday (Jul 21), Dr Wee said that the prime ministers for both countries will witness the ceremony, which will be held at the Johor-Singapore Causeway. He said that both countries have completed negotiations for the Johor Bahru-Singapore RTS Link project and are prepared to sign three agreements during the ceremony - a bilateral agreement, a concession agreement and an agreement to form a joint venture company to operate the rail line. He was responding to a question by Johor Bahru Member of Parliament Akmal Nasrullah ...

LONDON: Britain will end coronavirus quarantines for people arriving in England from more than 50 countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy - but not the United States - the government said on Friday (Jul 3). The move, effective July 10, clears the way for millions of British tourists to take summer holidays without worrying about being quarantined when they return. Those arriving from higher risk countries will still have to self-quarantine for 14 days under a rule which has angered airlines and travel companies. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government had debated for days how to ease the quarantine rules. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which set their own health policies within the United Kingdom, have not announced plans to lift the measures. "Today marks the...