Singapore-Malaysia Land Link Easing Likely ‘Soon,’ Gan Says
Singapore-Malaysia Land Border Easing Likely ‘Soon’, Says Gan
(Bloomberg) -- Singapore may soon allow quarantine-free crossing at its land border with Malaysia, one of the world’s busiest border crossings, the city-state’s trade minister said.
“I am cautiously optimistic that we will be able to do so quite soon,” Gan Kim Yong said in an interview via video with Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, when asked about the possibility of an easing of the land border restrictions before the end of the month.
The land-travel lane could open from Nov. 29, Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama reported Thursday. Some vaccinated travelers who work in Singapore or the Malaysian border state of Johor will be able to use that channel when it opens, the report said, citing Johor Chief Minister Hasni Mohammad.
Singapore’s authorities have yet to confirm the resumption date of the land crossings, known as causeways which link the two countries. The government has so far announced vaccinated air travel lanes with 21 countries, but those traveling from Malaysia will have to fly in from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to skip quarantine from Nov. 29.
“There is a possibility, and we are hoping that we will be able to announce our launch stage shortly,” said Gan, who is also a co-chair of a government task force overseeing virus measures in the city-state.
The trade-reliant country is slowly relaxing more of its border controls in an attempt to re-establish itself as one of the world’s premier aviation hubs. Under its vaccinated travel lanes, a fixed number of travelers per day are allowed to enter Singapore without quarantining so long as they are fully vaccinated and test negative for Covid before departure and again on arrival.
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