S'pore comes under pressure from U.S. businesses<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): American businesses want Singapore to further
\nopen up its financial services sector and toughen enforcement of
\nintellectual property rights laws as part of a free trade
\nagreement (FTA), a report said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
US businesses are also concerned that a free trade pact with
\nSingapore could lead to an influx of cheaper goods from Southeast
\nAsia because of the island-state's role as a key regional
\ntransshipment hub, the Business Times reported.<\/p>\n
The recommendations were contained in a long list given by 121
\ngroups and individuals to the US Trade Representative's office,
\nwhich had sought feedback on the proposed US-Singapore FTA, the
\nreport said.<\/p>\n
It quoted the president of the Coalition of Service Industries
\nin the United States Bob Vastin as saying: "We want to be able to
\ndo business just like Singapore companies can do business with
\nSingaporeans," he said.<\/p>\n
The report said US financial institutions, engineers, lawyers
\nand pharmaceutical firms were among those lobbying for access to
\nthe Singapore market on equal terms with local companies.<\/p>\n
The US service industries coalition also wants a more
\ntransparent regulatory and licensing regime in Singapore.<\/p>\n
This covers finance, education, energy, maritime, engineering,
\nexpress delivery as well as the legal and telecommunications
\nsectors.<\/p>\n
The coalition wants Singapore to remove the limit on the
\nnumber of US-owned banks allowed to operate with full bank
\nlicenses and allow American card issuers to have access to the
\nautomatic teller machine networks of domestic banks.<\/p>\n
Last week, Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,
\nwho also heads the city-state's de facto central bank, announced
\nreforms to further opening up the financial sector.<\/p>\n
The reforms included the opening of applications for two more
\nfull banking licenses for foreign banks. Four foreign banks
\nalready have full banking licenses -- Dutch bank ABN Amro, BNP
\nParibas of France, Citigroup of the United States and Standard
\nChartered Bank of Britain.<\/p>\n
However, foreign banks are still barred from taking majority
\ncontrol of a local bank and from having access to the ATM network
\nof local banks.<\/p>\n
The US groups also said protection and enforcement of
\nintellectual property rights were inadequate, the report said.<\/p>\n
Singapore and the US have expressed hopes of concluding an FTA
\nby the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Singapore has signed an FTA with New Zealand and is
\nnegotiating similar pacts with Japan, Canada and Mexico, among
\nothers.<\/p>",
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