EU, Singapore strengthen digital trade partnership

The two also discussed post-pandemic recovery.

European Commission Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Singapore Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran co-chaired the inaugural Trade Committee meeting under the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA).

The co-chairs tasked EU and Singapore officials to start technical discussions and identify the relevant digital trade elements. It marks the EU and Singapore's shared vision of bringing their strong bilateral trade partnership into the digital future, building on the entry into force of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement in 2019. The discussions will further deepen digital ties and expand bilateral trade and investments, ensuring that workers and businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, benefit from opportunities in the growing global digital economy.

The co-chairs reaffirmed the strong bilateral trade relations between the EU and Singapore. In 2020, annual bilateral trade in goods and services exceeded €100b ($154.10b) in value. Whilst international trade was hit hard by COVID-19, the EUSFTA provided businesses with predictability and certainty.

The co-chairs also exchanged views on global and regional trade developments, as well as ways to strengthen the post-pandemic economic recovery. They reviewed the smooth EUSFTA implementation to date, including the successful early commencement of the Trade and Sustainable Development Board meeting and issues such as labour and fundamental ILO conventions, as well as green economy cooperation.