TPP: Globalist Push for U.S. Economic Integration Continues in Singapore

Thenewamerican.com, 5 Mar 2013
The latest round of talks negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) began Monday in Singapore. Six hundred delegates from the 11 member nations will continue their work toward establishing a “free trade” zone that includes the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
While those who push for the creation of such a pact point to the combined gross domestic product of the participants — $21 trillion — the fact that is almost always omitted is the great disparity between the GDP of the United States and that of the other members of the TPP.
Math doesn't lie: The total GDP of the other 10 TPP countries equal roughly one-third of that of the United States. The relevant question is whether partnership with these countries will result in a strengthening of their economies or a weakening of our own. Full story

EU, Singapore agree on free-trade deal

AFP
BRUSSELS — The European Union said on Sunday it had completed final negotiations on a free-trade deal with Singapore, the bloc's 13th-largest trading partner and home to more than 8,000 EU companies.
The agreement, which still needs to be ratified, was completed by EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Singapore Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang, the European Commission said in a statement.
Singapore is the EU's largest trading partner in the Southeast Asia region, accounting for 74 billion euros ($97 billion) of trade in goods and services. Full story

Related:

1. EU, Singapore conclude free trade negotiations - The Malaysian Insider
2. EU and Singapore agree ‘landmark’ free trade deal - International Adviser
3. EU, Singapore agree free-trade deal - EuropeanVoice.com

China poised to become Singapore's second largest trading partner by 2030

News Track India, 14 Nov 2012
Singapore, Nov. 14 (Xinhua-ANI): Given the size and pace of growth of the Chinese market, China will rise to become Singapore' s second largest trading partner by 2030, according to latest HSBC Global Connections report.
"Singapore's exports to Asia excluding Japan are forecast to rise by a fairly robust 7 percent a year on average during 2021 to 2030," said the report, "but the fastest growing trade routes will be with China over this period." Full story

Despite throwing it's door wide open to Indian workers and businesses, Singapore’s share in India’s trade fails to pick up

The Financial Express, 2 Nov 2012
New Delhi: More than seven years after India signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Singapore, the latter's share in India's total trade has not picked up. The India-Singapore CECA came into existence in August 2005 and, from 2007-08 to 2011-12, Singapore’s share in India's total trade has actually declined from 3.74% to 3.2%.
The decrease in share is despite the trade (export and imports) between India and the city state growing close to 20% annually, which indicates higher growth in New Delhi's trade with many other countries, especially those with which the base is relatively higher. Full story

Singapore trade with Iran hits $2 billion

Tehran Times, 24 Sep 2012

The value of annual trade between Iran and Singapore amounts to around $2 billion, but the two sides have the potential to further raise the figure.

Singapore is the main importer of non-oil Iranian goods among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, accounting for some half of the ASEAN's total non-oil imported from Iran. The country imported some $89 million worth of goods from Iran and exported around $29 million last year.  Full story

Singapore Wholesale Trade Declines In Q2

RTTNews, 21 Aug 2012
(RTTNews) - Singapore's domestic wholesale trade declined 2.6 percent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, the Department of Statistics said Tuesday.
This was mainly due to decline in prices of petroleum and petroleum products, according to the statistical agency. Excluding petroleum, domestic sales dipped 0.3 percent compared to a quarter ago. Full story

Lee Hsien Loong asks India to join ASEAN's Regional Economic Partnership

Islamic Republic News Agency, 12 Jul 2012
New Delhi, July 12, IRNA -- Visiting Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Thursday pitched for India's active participation in ASEAN's new Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to lend stability in the region.
Effusive about India's rise over past 20 years as an emerging economy, Lee said he discussed the issue of RCEP during his meetings with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh and other ministers and urged them to take a positive decision with regard to this.
'We want India to be partners in RCEP. I have been discussing this in my meetings so that India can be actively engaged in the region. India's participation will enhance stability and add influence,' he told 'Singapore Symposium' here. Full story

Related:
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong asks India to join ASEAN's Regional Economic Partnership - The Economic Times

Singapore to press India for Mauritius-like investment pact

The Economic Times, 11 Jul 2012
NEW DELHI: Singapore is expected to press India for an investment regime on the lines of the one it has with Mauritius when prime minister Lee Hsien Loong comes to New Delhi on a state visit later this week.
Singapore has emerged as the second-biggest source of foreign direct investment for India, but the country is keen to renegotiate the bilateral agreement with New Delhi to be able to give competition to Mauritius that accounts for nearly 40% of FDI into India. Full story

Related:
Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong's India visit to focus on investment - The Economic Times

Sudan Crude Stranded 15 miles Offshore Singapore For More Than 150 Days

Bloomberg, 11 Jul 2012
More than 15 miles offshore Singapore a black-and-red hulled tanker has been stranded for about 150 days holding South Sudanese crude worth almost $60 million, a hostage of a two-decade war.
South Sudan says its northern neighbor stole the shipment on the ETC Isis and about 2 million barrels more. Sudan says it had the right to sell the oil. The feud over the cargoes, worth more than seven days of the South’s annual economic output, has entangled lawyers in London, shipowners in Cairo, buyers in Japan, dealers in the British Virgin Islands and Trafigura Beheer BV, the world’s third-biggest oil trader. Full story

International Enterprise leading a business delegation to scout for investment opportunity in Gujarat

Firstpost.com, 2 Jul 2012
Singapore: Singapore’s trade promotion agency will lead a delegation of investors to Gujarat to study infrastructure projects in the state and the possibility of investments, an official from the state said today.
International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the nodal agency for promoting external trade and investment, will lead the delegation, and would pay special focus on projects in waste management, fisheries and private ports, said Gujarat’s Principal Secretary for Water Supply, H K Dash. Full story

Singapore’s products flood Balinese market

The Jakarta Post, 19 Jun 2012
Products from Indonesia’s closest neighbor, Singapore, have flooded the Balinese market with an imports value of US$33.49 million (or 18 percent) of the island’s total import of $179.34 million in 2011.
Gede Suarsa, chairman of the Bali Statistics Office, told Bali Daily on Monday that Singapore, Hong Kong ($29.43 million), Switzerland ($24.65 million), US ($16.54 million), and China ($15.72 million) were the big five exporting countries to Bali, shipping mostly machinery, electronic goods, optical devices, leather and rubber products, fashion and jewelry, cosmetics, to fresh fruit and vegetables.
Bali imported a large variety of goods from Singapore. “The country is a trade center for Southeast Asian and Asian countries. Many countries send their goods to Singapore to be re-exported, including those shipped to Bali.” Full story

OPINION: Singapore-EU FTA: Trade over rights again?

Singapore Democrats, 13 Jun 2012
In the FTA negotiations, I learnt that the PAP government would not agree to the clauses calling for the political rights and civil liberties of citizens to be respected. This is tragic because it is political freedom that will allow Singaporean workers to fight for minimum wage, Singaporeans First policy, affordable housing and healthcare, and other bread-and-butter issues.
It will also spur the growth of the entrepreuneurial class in Singapore which will drive our economic growth in the future and reduce our over-reliance in MNCs and GLCs. Our political rights and our economic well-being cannot be separated. They are inextricably intertwined.
At the moment all the PAP is doing is to bring in foreigners to keep wages down. This has affected productivity in the country and caused income inequality to rise. It is not a sustainable solution. Full story

Singapore govt puts pressure on oil firms to end dealings with Iran after US snub

Reuters, 12 Jun 2012
SINGAPORE, June 12 (Reuters) - Singapore is putting pressure on oil companies operating in the city-state to cut their dealings with Iran as it seeks to be exempted from U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil trade, sources said on Tuesday.
U.S. ally Singapore was absent from a list of countries that Washington this week declared exempt from sanctions after they reduced Iranian oil imports.
"Singapore is putting pressure on banks and oil companies because it doesn't want to risk U.S. sanctions," a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. "The biggest fear is the impact this will have on Singapore's financial system." Full story

Related:
Singapore in talks with US over Iran oil imports, exemption to sanctions - The Washington Post
Singapore says did not import Iran crude last month - The Malaysian Insider
Singapore in talks with US over Iran oil imports - msnbc.com
Singapore cuts back on Iranian oil - The Washington Times

Philippines seek to sell more bananas to Singapore

Philtar.com, 28 May 2012
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is eyeing the export of bananas to Singapore to help local banana farmers affected by the stricter entry requirements imposed by China, which allegedly found pests in the fruits from the Philippines.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte yesterday said the Department of Agriculture is looking at Singapore and other foreign markets for the bananas of Mindanao growers. Full story

Europe, Singapore in Final Stages of Free Trade Pact Negotiation

Bloomberg
The European Union and Singapore are in the “final stages” of negotiations on a free trade agreement, said Marc Ungeheuer, ambassador and head of the delegation of the EU to the city state.
Foreign direct investment by the EU into Southeast Asia was 192 billion euros ($255 billion) in 2011, the European Chamber of Commerce said in a statement in Singapore today which included Ungeheuer’s comments. Trade between the two regions has increased 26.6 percent since 2006 to 161.6 billion euros, according to the group. Full story

Singapore firms stop Indonesia palm oil exports to Iran

Reuters, 9 Feb 2012
Singaporean firms have stopped supplying Iran with Indonesian palm oil on concerns over the country's ability to make payments in the wake of Western sanctions, trading sources in Singapore said on Thursday.
Palm oil traders in Southeast Asia, which supplies 90 percent of the vegetable oil globally, stopped taking Iranian letters of credit late last year ahead of fresh U.S. and European sanctions at the start of 2012. Full story

Related:
Iran turns to India for wheat as palm oil dries up - msnbc.com

New sanctions on Iran likely to hit trade with Singapore

msnbc.com, 7 Feb 2012
Trade between Asia and Iran is likely to slow as new U.S. sanctions make payments more difficult, traders said Tuesday, although the more determined can still find a route through Middle Eastern intermediaries.
Asian importers of Iranian crude, fuel oil and iron ore will find the sanctions complicate payment, which already often goes through intermediaries in the Middle East. Full story

Singapore still pays USD for Iranian oil

Zawya.com, 28 Jan 2012
Despite the fact that Iran's Central Bank has been hit with new wave of sanctions, some countries, with which Iran conducts oil trade operations, still use U.S. dollar to pay Iran. Singapore is one of these countries.
According to Singapore Petroleum Company, the country uses several currencies in case with Iran, which has vast reserves of natural resources, most notably oil and gas, and about 10 percent of the world's crude oil reserves. Full story

Malaysia- Singapore Trade To Perform Positively Despite Slugish Global Economy

Bernama.com, 31 Dec 2011
SINGAPORE, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysia-Singapore bilateral trade this year is expected to be positive with a double-digit growth again despite the sluggish global economic environment due to weak US recovery and the eurozone debt crisis.
According to Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) trade commissioner for Singapore, Naim Abdul Rahman, from January to October this year, Malaysia's total trade with Singapore had already increased by 11.8 per cent against the same period in 2010. Full story

China imposed anti-dumping tax on polyurethane from Singapore

China Daily, 14 Oct 2011
BEIJING -- The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said it started on Thursday a review of the anti-dumping investigation concerning polyurethane products imported from Japan, Singapore, the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States and the Taiwan region.
During the investigation, polyurethane products from the above exporters will remain subject to anti-dumping tax as high as 61 percent. Full story