Singapore business events bounce back post COVID-19, Hong Kong flounders

Singapore business events bounce back post COVID-19, Hong Kong flounders

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG - Singapore is hosting top executives of big global companies this week at a host of conferences, marking its gradual return to normalcy and underscoring the contrast with long-time rival Hong Kong, which is sticking with some of the toughest quarantine rules in the world. The Milken Institute's annual Asia Summit, run by billionaire Michael Milken's think tank, the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, and an event by sovereign wealth fund GIC attracted hundreds of executives vaccinated against COVID-19. Participants were allowed entry only after clearing swab tests and were required to wear masks and comply with strict safe distancing measures, though enjoyed relatively more freedom than the country's general population in terms of eating together. The resumption of on-site events in the Southeast Asian hub comes as Singapore is allowing quarantine free travel to at least a dozen countries including Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Canada and the United States. On Wednesday, UBS inaugurated the Swiss bank's largest office in Asia, an event attended by its chairman chief executive officer and others in the city-state. "Things develop, things evolve but evolve fast here in Singapore. And even with the kind of semi lockdown situation that we are currently in,