S'pore, U.S. aim for a 9th round of trade talks
S'pore, U.S. aim for a 9th round of trade talks
Reuters, Singapore
Singapore and the United States will try to work through persistent differences during a ninth round of talks on a free trade pact next week in London, the city state's chief negotiator said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after a Singapore International Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting, chief trade negotiator Tommy Koh said the main meetings would be held on June 20-28 and others would follow in early July.
"We hope to finish as much what's possible," Koh said, adding that it would not be the final round.
Singapore's total trade in goods with the United States amounted to S$67.7 billion (US$37.9 billion) in 2001, making the U.S. Singapore's second biggest trade partner after nearby Malaysia.
Koh said the United States still needed to pass its "trade promotion authority" bill, which would allow the White House to negotiate trade agreements.
He said the delay had impeded U.S. proposals in the areas of labor, environment, investments and dispute settlement.
Koh also said Singapore has received proposals from the United States on financial services liberalization, but not on professional services such as lawyers and engineers.
"We are studying (it) and we hope to be able to respond to them shortly," he said, adding that the financial services teams would meet in London in early July.
Franklin Lavin, the U.S. ambassador to Singapore, said earlier the two key hurdles to a free trade deal were access to the city state's restrictive retail banking sector and the ability of its professionals to operate freely in the city state.
Singapore is pursuing a gradual liberalization of its banking sector and six foreign banks have been allowed to operate in its retail sector.
The tiny trade-dependent nation of four million people has pursued an array of bilateral FTAs, while assuring fellow Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) members the pacts will not open a backdoor to the 10-country bloc.
ASEAN groups Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and Brunei.
Singapore had concluded free trade agreements with New Zealand, Japan and the European Free Trade Area consisting of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
It is currently negotiating similar agreements with the United States, Canada, Australia, China and Mexico.
The republic is also seeking a free trade pact with the European Union, saying that there was not a single Asian country among the EU's 27 bilateral trade agreements despite the strong trade flows between the two continents.