Singapore will be expanding its vaccinated travel lane (VTL) scheme to include Australia and Switzerland.
With the addition of both countries, Singapore will now have a total of 13 VTLs with the respective countries.
Applications for the VTLs with both countries will open on Nov 1 and approved VTL travellers can enter Singapore from Nov 8.
The opening remarks by Minister for Transport S Iswaran, on Oct 26, come after he indicated on Oct 11, that the republic is keen to work with its regional neighbours, Australia being one of them.
On Oct 26, Australia’s Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said that the country is “very keen to see that laneway open”.
Tehan added that he’ll be “doing everything” he can to make sure the quarantine-free scheme comes through.
See: Singapore to extend vaccinated travel lanes to Australia and Switzerland from Nov 8
According to Iswaran, the VTL will allow over 50,000 Singaporeans living in Australia and the over 25,000 Australians in Singapore to “reconnect with their loved ones”.
“Singapore and Australia are longstanding partners with strong people-to-people, economic and defence relations. Before Covid-19, many Singaporeans travelled to Australia for business, education and leisure, and vice versa,” he says.
“Pre-Covid, Australia was among our top ten markets for annual passenger arrivals at Changi Airport, accounting for about 4% of our total arrivals in 2019. In 2019, Australia was also among our top five markets for international visitor arrivals,” he adds.
The VTL with Switzerland will help to restore two-way quarantine-free travel between both countries.
As it is, Switzerland is already open to travellers from Singapore.
The move will “reinforce our position as a hub for Swiss companies. This move will also widen our VTL network in Europe, and provide greater flexibility for those travelling to and from the region,” says Iswaran.
“Switzerland is among our top ten partners in trade in services as well as foreign direct investment, and Singapore is Switzerland’s most important export destination in the ASEAN region. Our bilateral economic ties are broad and deep with over 1,000 Swiss companies in Singapore,” he adds.
Singapore has the largest concentration of Swiss businesses in a single location in Asia, with many serving as regional headquarters to reach the markets in Southeast Asia and North Asia.
The commencement of the VTLs with both countries will see up to 4,000 travellers entering Singapore. This is 1,000 more than what the country has allowed up till now.
With the commencement of the Vaccinated Travel Lanes with Australia and Switzerland, up to 4,000 travellers may enter Singapore daily through the various VTLs. This is 1000 more than what we have allowed up till now.
Photo: Unsplash
