SINGAPORE-EUROPEAN UNION FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

SINGAPORE-EUROPEAN UNION FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

4.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether he will provide an update on the status of discussions on the Singapore-European Union Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement, including the service sectors to be liberalised; and (b) what issues remain unresolved.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: Negotiations for an EU-Singapore FTA (EUSFTA) were launched in December 2009. Two rounds of negotiations have been held so far, with the third round scheduled to take

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place in Singapore in September 2010. The negotiations have been smooth and constructive thus far, and have covered the entire range of issues typically covered in an ambitious and comprehensive FTA like this one, such as trade in goods and services, non-tariff barriers to trade, government procurement, competition policy and sustainable development.

On services, we cannot definitively point to specific sectors that will be liberalised as a result of the FTA, since the negotiations are ongoing. However, both the EU and Singapore intend to achieve outcomes that will benefit European and Singaporean businesses, with substantial coverage of services sectors. We will exchange further views on the sectors of interest in the upcoming rounds of negotiations.

Singapore and the European Union (EU) launched negotiations for an EU-Singapore Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (ESPCA) in October 2004. The ESPCA was intended to strengthen bilateral relations and to pave the way for a closer partnership between Europe and ASEAN. The ESPCA was envisaged as a broad agreement that would cover bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues, including economic development, science and technology, education and culture.

We see both the EUSFTA and the ESPCA as important agreements that will lay the foundation for closer bilateral ties between Singapore and the EU in the years ahead. Naturally, there are unresolved issues on both agreements, but there is strong commitment from both sides to narrow the differences and to conclude negotiations for both agreements as soon as possible.

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