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“I hope that by the end of this year, more countries will have vaccinated a large proportion of their population, giving us more confidence and enabling us to develop systems that will help us safely reopen our borders to the world and restore tourism,” Lee Hsien Loong told the BBC. “Hopefully, if not sooner, then by the end of this year or next year, the doors will gradually be reopening.”
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during an interview with the BBC on March 2, 2021. Image source: Channel News Asia
Singapore is currently controlling the Covid-19 situation well with a low number of new cases, and its Covid-19 vaccination program has begun, with two approved vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The island nation plans to complete vaccination for its entire population before the end of this year.
Earlier, in an interview with Money FM 89.3, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said that a travel corridor for vaccinated travelers from places with low to medium infection rates could be implemented in the second half of this year, as Singapore continues to seek to reopen its borders and revive its aviation industry.
Singapore is still suspending all leisure tourism activities; however, some business and official travel activities are still permitted. (Image source: The Straits Times)
Regarding the situation of air travel bubbles, Mr. Ong said that such agreements require bilateral approval, as Singapore unilaterally opened its borders to tourists from countries and territories that had controlled the epidemic, such as Australia, New Zealand and China, and this did not affect community transmission there.
"Unfortunately, we are the only safe place in the world that is open to other countries," Mr. Ong said. "If other countries also start implementing air travel bubbles, with bilateral agreement between countries, then you can start traveling again. And I hope sometime this year we can do that."
