Channel NewsAsia, Singapore

Singapore and Peru conclude third round of FTA talks

29 September 2006

Singapore and Peru have concluded their third round of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement that will strengthen trade and investment relations between the two countries.

A joint statement from Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry and Peru’s Foreign Trade and Tourism Ministry says substantive agreement has been reached at the end of a four-day meeting in Singapore on Thursday.

The talks were led by Singapore’s Chief Negotiator, Mary Elizabeth Chelliah and Peru’s General Coordinators Mr Carlos Kuriyama and Mr Luis Mesias.

Significant progress was made on a range of issues during this round of negotiations with the rules of origin, investment, e-commerce and dispute settlement chapters being completed successfully.

The chapters on trade in goods, customs procedures, trade in services, government procurement and technical barriers to trade are near completion and only a few outstanding issues are left to be resolved.

The Peru-Singapore FTA was first launched by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique at the sidelines of the APEC Economics Leaders Meetings in Santiago, Chile on 19 November 2004.

The first round of negotiations was held in Singapore in February this year, with the second round in Lima, Peru in June.

The statement says Peru and Singapore will be working intensively to resolve the few remaining issues so as to announce the conclusion of the FTA as soon as possible.