Open travel in both the Chinese city and the Southeast Asian country has been suspended for months. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, both governments shut borders and denied entry to most non-residents and short-term visitors. In Hong Kong, returning residents are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine and wear an electronic bracelet to track their location.
But both cities have managed to get their Covid outbreaks under control, and reported low numbers of local infections in the past few months -- which is why they agreed in principle to the travel bubble plan during discussions on Wednesday, according to the statement.
"This is a milestone in our efforts to resume normalcy while fighting against the long-drawn battle of Covid-19," said Edward Yau, Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, in the statement.
Ong Ye Kung, Singapore's Minister for Transport, called it a "significant" move forward.
"It is a safe, careful but significant step forward to revive air travel, and provide a model for future collaboration with other parts of the world," he added.
There isn't yet a launch date for the travel bubble, but details will be fleshed out in the coming weeks, they said.
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