Singapore and South Korea are to launch a quarantine-free travel lane for people who are fully vaccinated from November 15.The travel lane will be Singapore’s third such arrangement, following the launches last month of similar schemes with Germany and Brunei. It also follows an announcement on Thursday by Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong that Singapore was working with the United States to create a quarantine-free travel lane for vaccinated people before the end of the year.Under…
Hybrid work poses proximity bias challenge for managers
Companies around the world are in the middle of a revolution in working practices. While offices are reopening in the wake of the pandemic, many businesses are adopting hybrid working and giving employees significantly more flexibility in how, when and where they work.
Singapore hopes Aukus pact contributes to regional peace and stability amid US-China rivalry
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Thursday said the Aukus defence alliance highlights Australia’s decision to align closer with its traditional ally the United States, and the pact could have potential benefits for peace and stability in the region.“Australia has done its own calculation and decided it needs to tack far more closely with America at a strategic level,” he said.Speaking at a forum organised by think tank Asia Society Australia and Bloomberg, he added that…
How Southeast Asia’s factory disruptions are hurting Apple, Toyota, other global brands
Fresh coronavirus outbreaks in Southeast Asia have hurt factory activity across industries, threatening the region’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and disrupting global supplies of goods such as apparels, cars and electronics.Coronavirus curbs have led companies to shut factories and suspend or reduce operations at a time when Asia’s manufacturing sector is already grappling with rising raw material costs and signs of a slowing Chinese economy.Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand are three of…
UK Patent Box ‘not providing effective incentive’ to life sciences SMEs
The lack of take-up of the UK’s ‘patent box’ by small and medium sized companies (SMEs) suggests that the beneficial tax regime is not effectively incentivising innovation by that group of businesses, a tax expert has said.
First Japan-UK submarine warfare exercise held with China in its sights
Japan and Britain put each other’s navies through their paces recently with a first-of-its-kind joint submarine warfare exercise that analysts said was carried out with China in mind.The two-day drill, held in Japanese waters last month, is thought to have featured HMS Artful, a state-of-the-art nuclear-powered British submarine on its maiden operational deployment to the Asia-Pacific as part of a Royal Navy task force centred on the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.Neither government has…
Coronavirus: Merck says deal with Singapore signed; South Korea soon to inoculate pregnant women
Merck on Wednesday announced it had entered into an agreement with Singapore to provide molnupiravir, an investigational antiviral drug to treat Covid-19, once it is authorised or approved.Molnupiravir is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus and would be the first oral antiviral medication for Covid-19. Merck is seeking approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for the pill.Singapore’s health ministry did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of…
The public law jurisdiction of the UK First-tier Tribunal in VAT cases
The UK’s First-tier tax Tribunal (FTT) has no general jurisdiction to judicially review decisions made by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), but it can consider public law arguments in some VAT appeals within its jurisdiction, the Upper Tribunal (UT) has said.
Message for China as Japan’s new prime minister Fumio Kishida gets Biden’s pledge of US support in East China Sea
New Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wasted no time in indicating his position on key security issues on his first full day in the job, speaking with President Joe Biden on Tuesday morning and obtaining the US leader’s commitment to step in if Japan needs to defend disputed islands in the East China Sea.The message came after Kishida used his first press conference as prime minister on Monday to express scepticism about China’s ability to meet the free-trade requirements to join the…
Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, son of former dictator, runs for president of the Philippines
The son and namesake of the Philippines’ former dictator Ferdinand Marcos announced on Tuesday he will run for president in next year’s elections, ending months of speculation over his political ambitions.Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, who is popularly known as “Bongbong”, had been touted as a potential candidate for either the presidency or the vice-presidency, having been involved in politics since his return in 1991 from exile following his father’s 1986 overthrow.“Join me in this noblest of causes…