Singapore, Taiwan sign free trade agreement
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Taiwan signed a free trade agreement with Singapore yesterday that will scrap taxes on Taiwanese exports and give a fillip to trade that was worth some US$28 billion last year.
Singapore is Taiwan’s fifth-largest trade partner and fourth-biggest export market. Under the pact, Singapore will eliminate duties on all imports from Taiwan, while Taiwan taxes on some 83 percent of goods imported from Singapore will be scrapped.
Farm and industrial goods are expected to be the main beneficiaries of the agreement, which also covers investment protection, e-commerce and government procurement.
The Taiwan government said the pact would increase the island’s GDP by US$700 million and create 6,154 new jobs.
Taiwan’s growth rate slowed in the third quarter of this year partly due to weak exports.
It has been chasing trade deals since a landmark 2010 pact with China’s mainland that cemented an economic rapprochement between the two sides.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the mainland had no objection to such economic exchanges. However, he said China hoped that Singapore “deals cautiously and appropriately in its trade and economic relations with Taiwan.”
“Our stance on Taiwan’s external exchange is clear and consistent. We do not have objections to foreign countries’ non-governmental trade and cultural exchanges but do oppose any official ties,” Hong said.
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