COVER STORY
ENABLING SAFE MEETINGS BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
TRAVELLERS AND SINGAPORE RESIDENTS Purpose-built facility opens its doors. Temasek recently announced the launch of the first phase of Connect@Changi, a pilot short-stay facility designed to support safe business exchanges between international business travellers and Singapore residents.
Located at Singapore EXPO & Max Atria, within a five-minute drive from Changi Airport, Connect@Changi offers an integrated ‘test-stay-work-meet’ experience for inbound business travellers.
As the first facility appointed under the Connect@Singapore initiative, Connect@Changi aims to support the progressive reopening of the nation’s borders and spur business and economic activities, while safeguarding the local community from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Business executives landing at Changi Airport can meet their Singapore-based counterparts or hold regional meetings in person at the facility, all the while enjoying a comfortable stay with an array of safe management measures in place.
Connect@Changi is launching with 150 premium guest rooms and 40 meeting rooms in a range of sizes, that can accommodate from four to 22 attendees. This will expand to around 660 guest rooms and 170 meeting rooms, when the initial phase of the project is completed in May. When fully completed later this year, the facility will have a potential capacity to host some 1,300 business travellers at any one time. When meeting at Connect@Changi, guests will be grouped in cohorts of five. To maintain safe distancing, the use of dividers is being explored, to keep guests in their respective cohorts.
The project is developed by a Singapore consortium, led by Temasek and includes The Ascott Limited, Changi Airport Group, Sheares Healthcare Group, SingEx-Sphere Holdings and Surbana Jurong. “We are thankful for the Singapore Government’s strong support and commitment to the Connect@Changi project, by appointing it as the first facility licensed to operate under the Connect@Singapore initiative”, said Mr Robin Hu, Head of International Policy & Governance, Temasek and Chairman, SingEx-Sphere Holdings. “Without such a facility, travel options are essentially binary - either stay at home due to travel restrictions,
Connect@Changi is developed by a Singapore consortium led by Temasek and includes The Ascott Limited, Changi Airport Group, Sheares Healthcare Group, SingEx-Sphere Holdings and Surbana Jurong. 14
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER March 2021
