Singapore, Malaysia committed to free flow of goods

Singapore

SINGAPORE and Malaysia have a shared commitment to keep supplies flowing in from across the Causeway - and Singapore's supply chain is resilient enough to withstand any potential disruptions going forward, Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at a Zoom media conference after a visit to DuPont Singapore, Mr Chan said when asked about the latest development in Malaysia: "We are in close contact with our Malaysian counterparts regarding the latest movement control and also the state emergency."

"I've exchanged texts with my counterparts and I think we have shared our commitment to make sure that we continue to keep our trade flows going, keep our supply chains going, to the benefit of both countries," he added.

And so far, he noted, there have been no disruptions.

"Over the last two days, there have been no disruptions to our supply chains and goods have continued to flow freely between our countries," Mr Chan reaffirmed in a subsequent Facebook posting.

During the media conference, he pointed out that Singapore has continued to diversify its supply sources, build up stockpiles and, where possible, boost local production of essential supplies in anticipation of any disruptions caused by unforeseen external developments. The effort has been given a more urgent boost in the past year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Chan said.

According to him, the government is quietly confident but not complacent and it is reviewing the resilience of Singapore's supply chains daily for all food items and essential products.

"In fact, our working assumption is that given the surge in (Covid-19) cases across the world, we must be prepared for disruptions to our supply chains across the entire world, and not just Malaysia," Mr Chan said.

Covid-19 cases in Malaysia have risen in four-digit daily jumps in recent weeks, with a record 3,309 new infections on Tuesday that brought the total to more than 140,000 cases.

On the same day, Malaysia's King Al-Sultan Abdullah declared a state of emergency which would last till Aug 1 or earlier, depending on the state of Covid-19 infections.

Malaysian's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had said on Monday that Covid-19 restrictions would be tightened from Jan 13, with five states and three territories placed under Movement Control Order (MCO).

Under the restrictions, in place till Jan 26, interstate travel is banned across Malaysia while travelling between districts is not allowed for the states under MCO.