Singapore and the European Union initialised their Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on September 20.

Mr. Stefano Poli, President of the European Chamber of Commerce inSingapore, said in a press release that “As the EU’s first ‘green’ FTAand the first successful bilateral FTA between the EU and an ASEANmember state, the EU-Singapore FTA will no doubt set a reference pointfor the ongoing bilateral FTA negotiations between the EU and Malaysia,Thailand and Vietnam.”

He expressed hisconfidence that the EU-Singapore FTA will enhance the commercial andeconomic incentives for mutual trade and investment between Singaporeand the Europe .

“It will also further establish Singapore asa strong, reliable gateway for the foray of European commercialventures into the greater Asian market, given Singapore's existinginfrastructure capabilities," Stefano added.

According to the European Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, with morethan 9,000 European companies at present, Singapore continues toposition itself as a strategic springboard into the larger ASEANconsumer base of 600 million.

TheEU-Singapore FTA will now undergo the process of ratification by boththe EU and Singapore , before its terms of agreement will come intoeffect.-VNA