Singapore, Jan 5 (PTI) Attendees of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Special Annual Meeting in Singapore will undergo a rigorous COVID-19 testing regime, including pre-departure and on-arrival testing, as well as strict safe management measures during the three-day gathering from May 13, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan said on Tuesday.

"To minimise the risk of seeding local transmissions, we will also put in place measures to manage the interactions between the local community and the event attendees,” Tan told the Singapore parliament.

The WEF, which hosts its annual meeting in Switzerland every January, had last month announced a change of venue to Singapore and change in dates to May 13 to 16.

“The specific public health requirements and contingency plans are currently being worked out, and will take into consideration the latest COVID-19 situations here in Singapore and also globally,” said Tan, adding that health requirements developed for the forum could serve as a reference for subsequent events held here.

The minister said the availability and the roll out of vaccines globally and in Singapore are still being worked out.

“We will continue to evaluate the situation with these roll out programmes ... locally as well as globally, and apply the prevailing conditions to all incoming travellers to Singapore,” the Channel News Asia quoted Tan as saying.

The minister said the WEF's intent is for the Special Annual Meeting to have a greater focus on Asia, given "Asia's growing importance and economic weight in the global economy".

"We are looking forward to the opportunity for Singapore to contribute to the programme and the discussions at the meeting,” said Tan.

“In order for us to host the World Economic Forum Special Annual Meeting successfully in Singapore, we will not let our guard down but instead continue to do our best to minimise the number of COVID-19 infections in Singapore," said Tan.

The special annual meeting will be the first global leadership event to address worldwide recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the WEF had earlier said.

According to Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry, this would be the second time the WEF Special Annual Meeting will be held outside of Switzerland since its establishment in 1971, and the first time it will be held in Asia.

The coronavirus has killed 29 people with 58,749 confirmed cases in Singapore, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)