Negotiations on FTA Agreement between EAEU and Singapore to end up in 2019

Such intentions were expressed by the Member of the Board – Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Veronika Nikishina and the Senior Minister of Industry and Trade of Singapore Ko Poh Koon at a bilateral meeting held on November 14 in Singapore.

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Some compromises were reached in the course of negotiations on one of the elements of the future agreement package – the Framework Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Singapore.

Veronika Nikishina also welcomed the Singapore side's intention to finalize negotiations with the EAEU Member States on bilateral agreements on the liberalization of trade in services and investment by the middle of next year. This will enable the signing of a single package of agreements forming a full-scale free trade area.

The EAEU-Singapore negotiations on a free trade area started in August 2017. Since then, five rounds of full-scale negotiations and several series of intersessional meetings were held. The next round is scheduled for December.

It bears reminding that the EAEU countries are negotiating with Singapore on a range of trade issues: goods, services and investments. The FTA Agreement is negotiated by the Eurasian Economic Commission jointly with the Union Member States. Yet, services and investments are negotiated with Singapore by each of the countries individually. Legal relations between the Union-wide and bilateral documents are formalized by a framework agreement.

SOURCE: Eurasian Economic Commission