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SINGAPORE – The Republic will put in place three levels of guarantees when the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting is held here next year, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Wednesday morning (December 9).
First, Singaporeans, especially those who can interact with participants, will need to be sure that the meeting can be conducted safely with visitors entering the country.
Next, participants from all countries should also feel safe interacting with each other.
The third level of security is that meeting attendees should also receive a clean health certificate before returning to their own countries or thereafter to other places, so that there are no misunderstandings that someone contracted the virus in Singapore while they were here. said Mr. Chan.
On Wednesday he spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a media visit to the Siemens Advanced Manufacturing Transformation Center in Tuas, where he met trainees from the additive manufacturing training course under the SGUnited Mid-Career Pathways Program.
The WEF had announced on Monday its decision to move the annual forum from Switzerland to Singapore. The meeting next May will see top political, business and academic leaders come together to discuss pressing global issues.
This will be the second time the WEF will hold its meeting outside of Switzerland since it began in 1971, and the first time it will be held in Asia.
The 2002 edition was held in New York to show solidarity with the United States and the people of the city after the terrorist attacks of September 11 the previous year.
The WEF had said that it decided that Singapore was in the best position to host the meeting in light of the current Covid-19 situation around the world.
Mr. Chan said that if the participants can be sure that people from different countries can meet here safely, Singapore will have a competitive advantage.
“If people from countries A and B can come to Singapore safely, then we have a competitive advantage.
“This will be a demonstration of how we can conduct high-level meetings in a way that provides the necessary health guarantees to participants from different countries, that this is a safe place for them.”
But the minister stressed that Singapore should not “get too far ahead of ourselves at this time.”
“When the WEF chose Singapore, it was a statement of their confidence in our ability to manage the situation now and for the next few months. But having said that, we should not be complacent.
“We have to stay very focused and do the job well; we have to make sure we contain the virus, manage the numbers to keep them as low as possible, to give security to ourselves and the guests that will come.”
He added that the Republic is in talks with the WEF about the logistical details that must be resolved.
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