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.