TRADE BETWEEN SINGAPORE AND ASEAN COUNTRIES

Mr Chuang Shaw Peng asked the Minister for Trade and Industry whether there was any improvement in trade between Singapore and the ASEAN countries from June 1998 to May 1999.

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore's total trade with the ASEAN countries has turned around since March this year. It expanded by 8.8% for the period March to May 1999, after declining by 12% between June last year and February this year. The rebound was due to the bottoming out of the ASEAN economies as well as the improvement in global electronics demand.

Both exports to and imports from the ASEAN countries expanded for the period March to May 1999. Exports rose by 8.1% due mainly to higher exports of intermediate inputs, in particular, electronics and related products, mostly used to manufacture products where the final demand is in the US and the European Union. There were also higher exports of consumer goods to ASEAN, reflecting improved consumer sentiments in these countries. Imports, on the other hand, grew by 9.6% fuelled by higher imports of intermediate goods to support manufacturing operations in Singapore.

The Trade Development Board (TDB) is cautiously optimistic that the expansion in trade with ASEAN would continue for the rest of the year, provided that global electronic demand stays healthy and the recovery of the ASEAN economies remains on course.

Mr Simon S C Tay (Nominated Member): Is the Minister confident that the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement will assist the increase in intra-ASEAN trade and that in the preparations for the WTO meeting, ASEAN will play a strong role?

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: Despite the economic crisis, there has been a continuing determination by the ASEAN countries to stay the course. I have just come back from the Trade Ministers' Meeting of the APEC economies in Auckland last week and the results were much more than we could have hoped for, given the fact that in many countries in East Asia, the economic crisis has caused political leaders to turn inwards. Partly because the crisis seems to have bottomed out, there has been a renewed determination by these countries to stay the course and to prepare for a good Leaders' Summit in Auckland in September this year, and to help shape the launch of a new round during the WTO Ministerial meeting in Seattle in November.

Dr Lee Tsao Yuan (Nominated Member): Will the Minister please inform the House whether the trend he mentioned for exports is the same for both direct exports and re-exports and whether the figures include trade with Indonesia?

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: The trends are quite broad-based. They cover both domestic exports and re-exports and for all the ASEAN countries. The numbers I gave did not include Indonesia as it is not our practice to do so, but the general trends for Indonesia are the same.