Carrie Lam: Hong Kong will restart its' Tourism Bubble 'program with Singapore

Mrs Lam said Singapore remained a priority for Hong Kong to unlock its "tourism bubble".

In the past six months, Hong Kong and Singapore have twice announced the launch of "tourism bubble" arrangements, but both have been put on hold due to the local resurgence of the coronavirus in one of them. Hong Kong (CHKSAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngo said at a media conference on Tuesday that Singapore is still a priority for Hong Kong to open its "tourism bubble".

Lam said the situation in Singapore has stabilized, and Hong Kong will resume its earlier plan with Singapore. Yau Teng Wah, the government's secretary for commerce and economic development, has been discussing with his Singaporean counterparts when and how to launch the tourism bubble.

Noting that Singapore is implementing a new strategy on fighting the epidemic, Mrs Lam said the SAR Government needs to know more about whether the new strategy will have an impact on the arrangements already made between the two sides.

When Hong Kong and Singapore announced their "travel bubble" arrangement earlier, they unilaterally required Hong Kong residents to have been vaccinated against COVID-19 when travelling to Singapore. Mrs Lam said that Singapore, which also has a very high vaccination rate, would consider whether to extend the previous agreement to vaccinate residents of both countries as a condition for opening a "tourism bubble".

"We attach great importance to resuming travel with Singapore as there are many contacts, the governments of both countries are friendly and the situation is stable." "Mrs. Lam said.