Singapore and Malaysia have finalised arrangements for cross-border travel via the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) and Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA), and both schemes will be open for applications next Monday (Aug 10). The PCA will allow Singapore and Malaysia citizens or Permanent Residents (PRs) who hold long-term immigration passes for business and work purposes in the other country to enter that country for work.

The COVID-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS) 3.0 was introduced by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to manage applications and approvals by industry to operate during the Movement Control Order (MCO). Although the system is currently not being utilized during the Recovery MCO, members are advised to ensure that their details on CIMS 3.0 are up-to-date to facilitate any future usage of the system. If you have not done so, we would strongly encourage you to please log into the system to input your details. Click on the 'Read More' tab to log in.

In recent decades, value chains have grown in length and complexity as companies expanded around the world in pursuit of margin improvements. Since 2000, the value of intermediate goods traded globally has tripled to more than $10 trillion annually. Businesses that successfully implemented a lean, global model of manufacturing achieved improvements in indicators such as inventory levels, on-time-in-full deliveries, and shorter lead times. However, these operating model choices sometimes led to unintended consequences if they were not calibrated to risk exposure

High-profile bankruptcies, refinancing deals, and drastic cost-cutting involving the likes of Brooks Brothers, JCPenney, Hertz, Neiman Marcus, Ford, and GM are testament to the financial distress wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. But a less visible crisis deep within supply chains is destabilizing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and could add to the woes of the global economy.