The European Union has agreed to start negotiations with Singapore on creating a free trade agreement between the 27-nation bloc and the Southeast Asian country, the Singapore government said today.
The first round of negotiations will start this month in Singapore, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement, after a meeting between Singapore's Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.
The EU is Singapore's largest trading partner and foreign investor. Bilateral trade exceeded €55 billion in 2008, the statement said. Singapore is the EU's 15th largest trading partner and the largest among Southeast Asian nations.
Reuters