Singapore to test modest business travel as opening inches ahead

A food delivery rider stands next to his bicycle along Robinson Road in the financial business district in Singapore. - AFP

SINGAPORE, Aug 17 (Bloomberg): Singapore plans to set up pilot programmes to allow vaccinated business travelers from some countries to enter on controlled itineraries next month, as it charts a cautious international reopening that extends to local virus curbs too.

Singapore is in talks with Germany, Australia, Canada and South Korea to be the first batch of countries for such arrangements, though it is also looking at the possibility of leisure travel, trade minister Gan Kim Yong told Bloomberg News in an interview Tuesday.

He said factors like infections, vaccination rates and the ability to control outbreaks will be considered in these discussions.