Annual projected losses could hit US$11.8 billion for Singapore and US$13.8 billion for Hong Kong if Covid-19 infections were to worsen, the report said.

All travel restrictions for residents of the two cities will be lifted on February 20, three years after they were imposed.

After Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office this week called for direct flights from Taiwan, the island’s tourism authorities said the resumption of cross-strait travel ‘is quite high as the mainland pandemic stabilises’.

Officials must consider ‘information overload’ when communicating with the public during crises, experts say.

Taiwan follows Japan in announcing pandemic restrictions after a surge in Covid-19 cases in mainland China, which opens its borders on January 8.

Electors who test positive from Monday will breach quarantine if they head to the polls, risking fines of up to US$32,000.

Visitors must travel in groups of between five and 40 people under recognised travel agencies, and can stay for 15 days at most.

Taiwan’s total fertility rate could drop to a historic low of 0.89 births per woman of a childbearing age this year before replacing South Korea as the economy with the world’s lowest fertility rate by 2035.

Taiwan’s industrial output index fell for the first time in more than two and a half years in September, with production in South Korea and Singapore having also eased due to weak consumer demand caused by the war in Ukraine, high inflation and fallout from China’s zero-Covid policy.

There is no turning back, island’s epidemic control chief says, as hopes rise of a tourism revival.

From mid-October, Taiwan will implement a seven-day testing regimen with strict isolation rules for those who test positive for the coronavirus – a mandate that analysts say remains a ‘deterrent to travel’.

Citing intimidation from Beijing, Taipei’s council for cross-strait policy says some restrictions will remain in place, but visits for family, funerals and business will be allowed.

Taiwan’s National Development Council said its ‘overall monitoring indicator’ fell to its lowest level in more than two years, as the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) warned of a global economic downturn.

A number of destinations across Asia are looking to welcome tourists after a lengthy period of border restrictions.

Cabinet gives October 13 as earliest reopening as island plans gradual scrapping of quarantine and PCR requirements and return to visa-waiver programme.

Taiwanese officials will monitor coronavirus conditions over the next two weeks to determine if quarantine rules can be lifted next month.

Reopening is a step closer after guideline proposed by Tourism Bureau to allow travel agencies to organise inbound and outbound tours is approved.

Visitors from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and Taipei allies will not need a visa from next Monday.

Island is looking to inject considerable talent into its pillar industries in the face of a shrinking labour pool, few births and a population that keeps getting older.

J. Uduch Sengebau Senior arrived for an official five-day visit, representing one of the 14 countries still maintaining formal relations with Taiwan.

Sharp export fall seen sparked by weakening demand from Europe, the US and mainland China for Taiwan’s signature hi-tech consumer electronics such as laptops that were in high demand early in the pandemic.

Countries such as Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, China, Australia and New Zealand are being urged to take precautions as authorities grapple with economic fallout from pandemic while trying to avoid unpopular restrictions.