SINGAPORE, June 26 (UPI) -- Singapore on Wednesday signed a Free Trade Agreement with the European Free Trade Association, a pact which is expected to enter into force on Jan. 1,after each signatory country has gone through the ratification process.
The EFTA groups Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.
Bilateral trade between EFTA and Singapore last year totaled $3.2 billion and is expected to receive a boost from the new pact when it is implemented.
Singapore has been aggressively pursuing free trade pacts over the last year. This is its third FTAs, having signed similar pacts with New Zealand and Japan. The country is also in advanced negotiations with the United States and Australia, and has started FTA talks with Mexico and Canada.
This latest agreement is the first FTA between Europe and Asia and seeks "to initiate an ambitious strategic imperative to catalyze greater economic linkages between the two continents," a joint communiqué said.
Singapore has approached the European Union to start similar trade talks.
"Singapore is honored to be a partner to EFTA's most comprehensive FTA to date. This is not insignificant as EFTA has signed 18 other FTAs in the past," said Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo. "As our FTA is WTO-consistent and WTO-plus, we also hope that it will make a modest contribution to global trade liberalization especially the Doha Development Agenda."
The new trade pact is a World Trade Organization-plus Agreement, covering trade in goods and services, investment, competition, government procurement and intellectual property.
Under the deal, up to 99.8 percent of Singapore's domestic exports to EFTA will have preferential market access treatment through tariff liberalization. Previously, only 23.6 percent of Singapore's domestic exports had duty-free access into EFTA. Singapore will eliminate tariffs on all EFTA-originating products.
Both countries have committed to liberalize many services sectors, including professional services, financial services and ICT services, as well as committed to a framework of investment rules to promote and protect bilateral investment.
