Trading Through a Pandemic: The Singaporean Experience

Abstract

Being a small country with one of the highest trade-to-GDP ratios in the world, Singapore faced seemingly insurmountable challenges at the onset of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As countries around the world scrambled to fight the pandemic, they imposed restrictions on exports and imports, suspended international transportation of both goods and people, and invoked emergency power and exceptions to justify their actions. All these presented unprecedented challenges to Singapore, a country which relies on international trade not only for its prosperity but also for survival. This article discusses how Singapore tries to meet these challenges through various initiatives to diversify its sources of supply, ensure trade of essential goods, and minimize the interruptions to business travel. The Singapore experience provides an invaluable case study on how trade agreements can be used not just to regulate trade, but also to facilitate trade, a lesson that will be useful for all countries as the world embark on the road to recovery. export restrictions, essential goods, general exception, stockpiling, movement of people, COVID-19, pandemic, GATT, GATS, WTO