Singapore and Japan have agreed to establish a “reciprocal green lane” from September 18 to facilitate short term essential business and official travel between two countries, amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of both countries has issued a joint statement on Friday (Sept 11). The statement said, “The business track, which will be launched on Sep 18, 2020, will facilitate short-term essential business and official travel for residents from both countries.”

The two countries have stated that cross-border travel and business exchanges can be safely resumed through “business track”, with the necessary public health protocols in place. These protocols include COVID-19 tests before departure and after arrival, as well as compliance with controlled itinerary requirements for the first 14 days in the receiving country.

Detailed information about the operation including requirements, sanitation protocols and applications will be published on the website of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (www.mofa.go.jp) and website of Singapore’s SafeTravel (safetravel.ica.gov.sg) by Sept 18.

This is the first green lane agreement that Japan will implement with other countries as well. Singapore has similar arrangements with other countries such as Malaysia and South Korea. Singapore has fast lane arrangements with six Chinese provinces of Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Recently, Singapore has allowed general travel to and from Brunei Darussalam and New Zealand from Sept 1. Moreover, Singapore is also negotiating with Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong to launch a reciprocal green lane.

In regards to COVID-19 transmission, Singapore has reported a total number of 57,357 confirmed cases which are under treatment and 27 patients have lost their lives due to the virus. However, 56,607 patients who tested positive to COVID-19 have completely recovered from the virus, till the date.

Whereas, Japan has reported a total number of 73,901 confirmed cases, 1,412 deaths caused by the virus and 65,590 complete recoveries, as of Saturday (Sept 12).