Brussels, 18/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - Returning from the G20 summit in Brisbane, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy stopped off in Singapore on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 November. When there, he examined - with Singapore's President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong - the next steps for quickly signing and implementing the two agreements (an agreement on political cooperation and an agreement on free trade) concluded in 2013 between the EU and its first partner in South-East Asia.
The trade agreement, initialled in September 2013, should stimulate the already strong bilateral trade in goods and services (€46.7 billion for goods in 2013 and €28 billion for services in 2012). It should also boost the already large flows of investment - the EU is the first foreign investor in Singapore with nearly €118.7 billion invested (in other words, 25.9% of the total FDI stock in Singapore), while Singapore was the second biggest Asian investor in the EU with €68.6 billion in FDI in 2012. The chapter of the trade agreement on investment protection was finalised in mid-October. “Singapore is a key financial and logistics hub, the EU's largest trading partner in ASEAN and home to 10,000 European companies”, Van Rompuy states in a press release.
The partnership and cooperation agreement, initialled in October 2013, is expected to strengthen the dialogue and political cooperation in education, transport, energy, science and technology.
As regards regional security, Van Rompuy reiterated the EU's concerns to his hosts as regards the tension in the maritime areas in South-East Asia. This tension has “an impact also on Europe's security and economic prospects. I underscored the importance of freedom of navigation and the need to abide by international law”, he said.
Van Rompuy stated that the EU was ready to bring “further support” to regional integration in the ASEAN area and to contribute to strengthening the security architecture in Asia. “The bilateral free trade agreement we will sign with Singapore is the first of its kind with an ASEAN member state and will serve as a stepping stone for a region-to-region agreement”, he concluded. (EH)