A European shipowners trade association has welcomed the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and Singapore.
“We welcome the fact that the EU and Singapore show their commitment to free, fair and rules-based trade at a time that protectionism is on the rise,” said European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) secretary general Martin Dorsman.
“The EU-Singapore FTA text contains the liberalisation principles of international maritime transport services.”
The EU-Singapore trade and investment agreements are the first bilateral trade and investment agreements concluded between the EU and a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“Shipping needs global trade to exist and global trade cannot exist without an efficient shipping industry,” said Dorsman.
“Southeast Asia is a key partner for European shipping companies with Singapore being the EU’s largest ASEAN partner, accounting for almost one third of EU-ASEAN trade in goods and services.”
The ECSA also called for the “quick ratification” of the EU-Singapore FTA by the European Parliament so it can enter into force before the end of European Commission’s current mandate in 2019.
On Friday the EU and Singapore signed three agreements in a move described as “taking their political, trade, and investment relations to a new level”.
In addition to the EU-Singapore FTA, the other agreements signed were the EU-Singapore Investment Protection Agreement and the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation.
Cecilia Malmstrom , the EU Commissioner for Trade, said: “These agreements with Singapore - our biggest trading partner in the region - are another landmark for the EU.
“As the first of such agreements between the EU and a member of ASEAN, they will open up vast new opportunities for our exporters.
“In this difficult period on the world stage, we need strong allies such as Singapore in order to uphold the rules-based global trade system.”
Within the ASEAN bloc of nations, Singapore is by far the EU’s largest partner with a total bilateral trade in goods of EUR 53.3bn ($61.1bn) in 2017 and in services of EUR 44.4bn in 2016.
Last week also another important step in the expansion of EU-ASEAN trade ties when the European Commission adopted the EU-Vietnam trade and investment agreements and presented them to the council for its approval.
The ECSA said it welcomed this development as Vietnam is an “important partner” for the shipping sector, being the EU’s second largest ASEAN trading partner.
