Update on Singapore's Free Trade Agreement Negotiations

Mr R Dhinakaran asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) if he will provide an update on the status of (i) Singapore's FTA negotiations with EU; and (ii) the second review of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with India; and (b) whether there are any specific considerations that are holding back the conclusion of these processes.

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Mr Speaker, Sir, our economic relations with the EU and India are well-established, and both countries are important markets for our companies. The launch of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) and the on-going second review of the Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA) with India reflect the interest of Singapore-based companies in these markets, and vice-versa.

The EU-Singapore FTA negotiations were launched in December 2009, and 11 rounds of negotiations have been held so far. The negotiations cover the full range of issues typically covered in a high-quality and comprehensive FTA. These include trade in goods and services, investment, competition policy, intellectual property rights, non-tariff barriers to trade, government procurement and sustainable development.

Negotiations have gone well and are now in an advanced stage. There are a few outstanding issues which both sides are working hard to resolve. Both the EU and Singapore remain hopeful that the negotiations can be concluded later this year.

The Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA) was concluded between Singapore and India in 2005. The agreement provides for a review mechanism that allows both sides to update and improve the agreement to maintain its relevance to businesses. The key outcomes of the first review concluded in 2007 resulted in improvements in the ability for Singapore-based companies to gain access into the Indian market, and a "Special Scheme for Registration of Generic Medicinal Products" for India.

The second CECA Review is on-going. It was launched in June 2010 and six rounds of inter-sessional meetings have been held so far. Singapore and India are seeking improvements in the goods, services and investment chapters of the agreement. Unfortunately, the review is taking longer than expected to conclude, but both sides are committed to concluding the Review by the end of this year.

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Thank you, Minister, for updating on these FTAs. I have two supplementary questions. What is the status of the free trade negotiations between India and ASEAN in terms of the services and investment chapter? My second question: eventually, if it is implemented, what would be the impact on the bilateral FTA, that is the CECA, that we have with India?

As Members are aware, India and ASEAN concluded the Trade in Goods Agreement a couple of years ago and we are in the process of negotiating the services and investment chapters of the agreement. We are making good progress. There have been some hold-ups bilaterally between India and some ASEAN member countries, but, more recently, some of these are being resolved. So, again, we are hopeful that we can conclude this at the end of this year.

On the bilateral implications of the CECA, I think this has been generally positive. If you track the growth of trade, it has been very robust between India and Singapore since we concluded the CECA. Similarly, investment flows have been very good bilaterally between our two countries.

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