UAE ratifies Singapore-GCC FTA 

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The UAE, along with with Oman and Qatar, has ratified a Free Trade Agreement between Singapore and the GCC that will facilitate trade, including the import of Halal products to the GCC and provide greater assurance to Muslim tourists and businessmen 
visiting Singapore.

Dean Tan, Vice-Consul for Commercial Affairs at the Singapore Consulate, told Khaleej Times that Singapore is still awaiting ratification of the FTA from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

"But, when all parties complete the necessary ratification procedure, UAE will play a very important role, it being a major trans-shipment hub for 
the region," Tan said.

The pact is a milestone in the strengthening of ties between the GCC and Singapore because it is the first free trade agreement, or FTA, signed by the GCC and the second that Singapore will be signing with countries in the Middle East. The Jordan-Singapore FTA, signed on May 16, 2004, was the first free trade pact that Singapore signed with any country in 
the region.

"The GCC is also Singapore's 7th largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching a record high of S$42.4 billion in 2007. This is an increase of 127 per cent since 2002. Singapore's cumulative investments in the GCC totalled S$357 million in 2006," he said.

The deal is officially known as the GCC-Singapore Agreement Between Cooperation Council for Arab States of the Gulf and the Republic of Singapore, or GSFTA. It was signed between Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his GCC counterparts — President-in-Office of the GCC Ministerial Council and Qatar Prime Minister Shaikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, and GCC Secretary-General Abdurrahman bin Hamad Al Attiyah in Doha on December 15, 2008.

Tan said that the GSFTA is a comprehensive agreement that encompasses trade in goods and services, government procurement, and 
other features.

"Its Cooperation Chapter will also encourage and facilitate bilateral cooperation in several areas, including the recognition of the Halal certification of Singapore's Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura," Tan said.

"The GSFTA process also commits each GCC country and Singapore to complete negotiations for bilateral Investment 
Guarantee Agreements (IGAs).

"Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia signed bilateral IGAs with Singapore. Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE committed to completing negotiations for bilateral IGAs with Singapore within two years from the commencement of negotiations. The GCC was our 7th largest trading partner after Malaysia, China, US, Indonesia, Japan and Hong Kong in 2007," he said.

Based on 2007 figures, Singapore's total exports (both domestic exports and re-exports) to GCC countries were worth an estimated S$7.5 billion, while the Gulf states exported S$34.8 billion worth of goods 
to Singapore.

The GSFTA, as a key institutional framework, aims to strategically link the Gulf region and Singapore and help promote and increase the flow of goods, services, investment and people between the two economies.

By Lily B. Libo-on