Global Courant 2023-05-30 14:32:59
SINGAPORE – Singapore hopes to begin negotiations as early as this year on a digital free trade agreement with the European Union, one of its main trading partners, building on a non-binding digital partnership agreed between the two parties in February, Singapore’s Minister responsible for Trade Relations said. S Iswaran.
Speaking at a business outreach event on Monday (May 29), Iswaran said Singapore and the EU are in the process of identifying projects to pursue through the partnership, which aims to enhance the interoperability of digital markets and policy frameworks between the two sides. with the ultimate goal of enabling consumers and businesses to trade online at a lower cost.
The principles set out in the EU-Singapore Digital Partnership (EUSDP) represent “the first step towards an EU-Singapore bilateral digital trade agreement (which) will give our citizens and businesses the clarity and legal certainty they need to trade with confidence doing business in the digital economy,” said Iswaran, who is also Singapore’s Transport Minister.
“We look forward to starting negotiations on a digital trade deal with the EU hopefully soon, during Sweden’s presidency of the EU Council,” added Iswaran, potentially putting digital trade talks in the first half of 2023, when Stockholm serves as rotating council chairman. on an existing bilateral free trade agreement between Singapore and the EU that entered into force in November 2019.
Known as the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA), the deal was the first of its kind between the EU and a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and is regarded as a template for a broader future trade pact with regional economies . However, trade experts note that an agreement between the EU and ASEAN is very ambitious and a long way off.
A future digital trade deal between the EU and Singapore would similarly be seen as a springboard to closer connectivity between regions. The EU’s digital partnership with Singapore is the third such agreement signed with a major trading partner in Asia, following partnerships with Japan and South Korea respectively signed last May and November.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; President of the European Council Donald Tusk; Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission; Mr. Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian Chancellor, signs the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement in Brussels, Belgium. October 19, 2018. Photo: EU
The EUSDP aims to facilitate research and regulatory collaboration in areas ranging from the adoption of 5G and 6G services, management of artificial intelligence (AI) and resilience of the semiconductor supply chain. It also seeks common rules for cross-border data flows, electronic invoicing and payments to allow small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) more open access to overseas markets.
“The partnership between Singapore and the EU is not yet a binding agreement. It should be seen as the first step towards potentially creating one,” Deborah Elms, founder and executive director of the Asian Trade Centre, a Singapore-based trade research and advisory firm, told Global Courant. “While Singapore clearly has no particular problem with signing binding digital commitments and has done so on numerous occasions, the same does not apply to the EU.”
Elms, who is also president of the Asia Business Trade Association, added that the EU faces the challenge of “managing 27 member states with different levels of readiness and enthusiasm for digital trade. This always makes it difficult for the EU to act, especially when it comes to new issues such as digital. It can be time consuming to get the EU in a comfortable place to sign pledges.”
Differences in data privacy can be difficult to bridge, Elms said, noting that Singapore has not made a binding commitment to adapt to Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is considered the strictest privacy and security law in the world, but instead implements another standard known as Cross Border Privacy Rules (CPBR).
“The two systems are not incompatible, but they are also not precisely matched. It may take some time to figure out how to bridge the gaps. If you stick to a framework, having two systems may not be a problem, but if you want to make legally binding agreements, it may be more difficult to get around the differences. Time does not stand still either while the EU and Singapore settle the partnership,” said Elms.
Essentially serving as a set of digital trading principles, the EUSDP builds on Singapore’s extensive network of free trade agreements and digital cooperation initiatives, strengthening its role as a global business hub. Key priorities for implementation in 2023 include common approaches to electronic identification and AI governance and facilitating the digital transformation of SMEs.
Singapore is a major destination for European investment in Asia, with bilateral foreign direct investment between the EU and Singapore increasing to an estimated €434 billion ($464 billion) by 2022. Singapore is also the EU’s second largest trading partner in ASEAN, with more than 10,000 European companies headquartered in the city-state to serve the wider region.
“Integration with the rest of Southeast Asia is essential for our businesses to grow and expand. We need everyone to work together seamlessly – not just the EU and Singapore, but the rest of the region,” said Jenny Egermark, chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of Sweden in Singapore. “That’s the dream and the long-term goal we’re working towards.”
Similar:
Loading…
