Singapore, EU finish first round of free trade talks
(SINGAPORE) - Singapore and the European Union (EU) have completed the first round of talks for a free trade pact and will meet in May for further negotiations, the two sides said Friday in a joint statement.
During the latest talks in Singapore, they said they held "constructive discussions" on a range of topics including trade in goods, rules of origin, trade remedies, trade in services and investment, intellectual property and government procurement.
EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Singapore Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang officially launched the talks on March 3 and the discussions took place over four days from March 8-12.
The second round of talks will take place in Brussels from May 31 to June 4, the statement said.
The EU is Singapore's largest trading partner and foreign investor, with bilateral trade exceeding 55 billion euros (75 billion US dollars) in 2008.
Singapore is the EU's 15th biggest trading partner and its largest in Southeast Asia.
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