Companies in Singapore’s construction, marine and process sectors will be especially hard hit by stricter border measures imposed amid a rise in new Covid-19 cases, while the economy faces a shortage of foreign labor with entry approvals set for prolonged delays, a senior official said.
Lawrence Wong, the minister who co-chairs the Singapore government’s virus taskforce, told parliament Tuesday that Singapore can expect many new build-to-order projects to be delayed by a year or more, while companies in the marine and process sectors “may even have to forgo new opportunities.”
He said that any company seeking to bring in foreign workers from higher-risk countries “will now face considerable delays,” and the waiting time for an entry approval could be more than six months. In fact, the new restrictions treat every country and region of the world as “high-risk” except Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
