New rules to limit foreign worker visas won’t affect Singapore’s status as a business hub, Chan said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin. The city-state is trying to attract higher-skilled workers and will remain open to foreign talent, he said.

“We are making a move toward quality rather than quantity,” he said. “We really want to create more space for people at the very top, but for those jobs that can be done by Singaporeans, it will not require that many foreigners within the country.”

Singapore on Thursday announced an increase in the minimum salaries for employment and S-pass holders, which could make it tougher for firms to hire foreigners over Singaporean applicants. Employment pass holders must now earn S$4,500 ($3,293) a month, up from S$3,900, and S-pass holders must meet a S$2,500 threshold instead of S$2,400.

Singapore’s business community has been under pressure to maintain an appropriate balance of local and foreign workers. Monetary Authority of Singapore Managing Director Ravi Menon said last week the MAS would “intensify” its engagement with financial firms on their hiring practices in order to grow the “Singaporean core.”

Chan said officials are “quietly confident” in the city-state’s economic recovery through year-end, with fiscal stimulus helping to support domestic consumption and enable businesses and workers to shift to new industries. Still, much of the outlook will depend on external demand, he said.

“We are quite happy with the progress that we have made so far,” Chan said. At the same time, “we can’t replace external demand with domestic stimulus.”

Even with the economy expected to improve from the record 13.2% year-on-year contraction in the second quarter, officials have warned that retrenchments and business closures could continue to rise. The jobless rate hit its highest level in the second quarter since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.

— With assistance by Philip Heijmans, Faris Mokhtar, Anand Menon, and Joyce Koh

On Wednesday, the Amazon CEO's wealth reached an estimated $202 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index, as the company's shares soared. That's up about $87 billion since January.
The explosive growth in Bezos' fortune is being driven by his holdings in Amazon (AMZN). The company's stock is up about 25% over the last three months and 86% so far this year, according to data from Refinitiv.
Bezos, who founded Amazon in 1994, keeps breaking records with his wealth. In 2017, he became the richest person on the planet. And last month, his estimated net worth jumped to almost $172 billion, marking a new global high.

The billionaire isn't alone — other tech tycoons have been getting much wealthier throughout the pandemic as demand for their companies' goods and services continue to grow.
Earlier this month, Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg was dubbed a "centibillionaire," as his wealth surpassed $100 billion. Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, with a net worth of $96 billion, is close to achieving that extraordinary status. Microsoft (MSFT) founder Bill Gates has already made it.
And Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook also became a billionaire recently as shares of his company — now the world's most valuable — have soared. Cook is a rare example of an executive who didn't help found their company breaking into the ranks of the super rich.
Though Amazon is Bezos' biggest asset, it's not the only big brand he oversees. Outside the company, Bezos also owns Blue Origin, the space travel company he founded in 2000, and The Washington Post newspaper, which he acquired in 2013.

The latest case was found in a 35-year-old Mongolian man who returned home from South Korea on a chartered flight last week, Amarjargal Ambaselmaa, head of the NCCD's Surveillance Department, told a daily press briefing.

Meanwhile, two more patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the national couont to 291, Ambaselmaa said.

One of the remaining 10 patients being treated at the NCCD is in serious condition, she added.

All the confirmed cases were imported, mostly from Russia, according to the center.

No local transmissions or deaths have been reported in Mongolia so far.

According to an information provided by the Cabinet Secretariat of the Mongolian government yesterday, the coal exports from Mongolia have been growing, beginning from this month, and the number of coal transportation trucks has been increasing. The daily volume of coal transportation freight trucks to cross the border checkpoints to China was usually around 1,800 lately. However, in the recent several days, the number has exceeded 2,000.

In particular, on August 25, a total of 2,001 heavy duty trucks for coal transportation moved through Gashuunsukhait, Shiveekhuren, Yarant, Khangi border crossing points to China, which shows that the daily volume of coal trucks has returned to the pre-COVID-19 level.

As informed by the Cabinet Secretariat, the growth of coal exports to China is thanks to the Mongolian and Chinese governments’ joint implementation of the ‘Green Gateway’ temporary regulation at border crossing points.

To prevent from the spread of COVID-19, sterilization, and disinfection measures are being conducted for all trucks transporting coal and other minerals before they enter the country across border checkpoints and heavy-duty trucks conducting exports and imports transportation are being escorted under police surveillance to clearance terminals.

B.Dolgormaa

№

Date

Destination

Number of citizens

1

Sep. 2

Seoul

260

2

Sep. 8

Hong Kong /transit/

260

3

Sep. 9

Tokyo

260

4

Sep. 14

Frankfurt

260

5

Sep. 15

Seoul

260

6

Sep. 17

Hong Kong /transit/

260

7

Sep. 18

Istanbul

260

8

Sep. 21

Tokyo

260

9

Sep. 23

Frankfurt

260

10

Sep. 24

Seoul

260

11

Sep. 25

Sidney

260

12

Sep. 28

Seattle

260

Since the ban on all international travel of passengers in and out, Mongolia has arranged 62 charter flights and brought its 12,976 citizens from overseas countries. As of today, 12,409 Mongolian nationals stranded abroad have submitted their request to return home immediately from 48 countries.

Moreover, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working with the foreign embassies to help people with serious medical concerns travel abroad for treatment.

Walmart told the BBC it thought a deal with the Chinese video-sharing app would help it expand its operations.

TikTok has been given 90 days to sell its US arm to an American firm or face a ban in the country. Donald Trump has alleged it shares its user data with Beijing - claims it denies.

Earlier on Thursday the firm's boss resigned ahead of the impending ban.

Confirming that the company was pursuing a deal, a Walmart spokesperson told the BBC: "We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators."

Microsoft, which confirmed at the beginning of August that it was in talks with TikTok, told the BBC it had "nothing to share at this time".

With Walmart, which owns UK supermarket chain Asda, it will now go up against other prospective bidders, including the US tech giant Oracle.

According to reports, TikTok's US operations could fetch as much as $30bn (£22bn) if a deal is reached.

Since its global launch at the end of 2018 Tiktok has attracted a huge following, especially amongst the under-25s.

The app lets its followers create short videos, with the help of an extensive database of songs and wide range of filters.

Data at risk?
However, the Trump administration has accused its owner, the Chinese internet firm Bytedance, of being a threat to US national security.

It says the data the company collects from its 800 million users - 100 million of whom are reported to be in the US - is at risk of exploitation by the Chinese government.

India's government has also banned TikTok, along with dozens more Chinese-made apps, claiming they "surreptitiously" transmit users' data.

Beijing has denied such claims, calling the US ban politically motivated.

The founder of ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, has faced criticism for his decision to sell to a US company. But in a letter to his Chinese staff he said it was the only way to prevent the app from being taken down in America.

It's not the only Chinese-owned app to attract the suspicion of the US authorities - the messaging app WeChat also faces a ban.