tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62252139232266095652011-07-08T07:18:20.725-07:00exporttosingaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00931754224325877291noreply@blogger.comBlogger11100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6225213923226609565.post-90687526840622813482010-01-08T07:41:00.000-08:002010-01-08T07:42:13.950-08:00– Singapore said Tuesday that it will start free trade negotiations with the European Union after talks between Southeast Asian countries and Europe stalled earlier this year.<br />"The EU's decision to proceed with a bilateral FTA with Singapore is a positive development," Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said in a statement. "This will be a milestone agreement which will lay the ground for an even closer relationship between the EU and ASEAN."<br />The EU and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, broke off two-year free trade talks in March because of slow progress, the Trade and Industry Ministry said.<br />The EU is Singapore's biggest trading partner, accounting for $56 billion of sales, or about 12 percent of the city-state's total trade during the first 11 months of this year, the ministry said. In 2008, Singapore was the EU's 15th-largest trading partner.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6225213923226609565-9068752684062281348?l=exporttosingapore.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>exporttosingaporehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00931754224325877291noreply@blogger.com0