European Commission Directorate-General for Trade

Singapore

Singapore is one of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The ASEAN countries as a group are the EU's third largest trading partner outside Europe, after the United States and China. European businesses in a variety of sectors, from pharmaceuticals to finance, use Singapore as a hub to serve the ASEAN region. For many EU exporters Singapore is thus the gateway into a dynamically growing market of some 600 million consumers.

Bilateral trade in goods and services between the EU and ASEAN reached well over €200 billion in 2011, of which EU-Singapore trade makes up about a third (around € 65 billion). Singapore is thus by far the EU's largest trading partner inside ASEAN. The EU has a positive balance of trade in goods and in services with Singapore.

Negotiating better access for EU exporters to the dynamic ASEAN market was identified as a priority under the 2006 Global Europe trade strategy.

Singapore's economy is relatively open to international trade, and its port counts among the largest in the world. Singapore is also a major destination of European investments in Asia, as well as the second largest investor from Asia in the EU (after Japan).  In 2010, the existing stock of bilateral investment reached € 190 billion, having expanded rapidly over the past years.

In 2011, Singapore is the EU's 13th largest trading partner (in goods). EU-Singapore trade in goods has grown by some 7% in 2011.

Trade in goods

• EU goods exports to Singapore in 2011: €27.1 billion
• EU good imports from Singapore in 2011: €18.9 billion

Trade in services

• EU services exports to Singapore in 2010: €13.2 billion
• EU services imports from Singapore in 2010: €9.4 billion

Foreign Direct Investment

• EU total stock of investment in Singapore in 2010: €122.3 billion
• Singaporean total stock of investment in the EU in 2010: €67.3 billion

More statistics on EU trade with Singapore

FTA negotiations between the EU and Singapore

After FTA negotiations between the EU and a group of ASEAN countries proved difficult, EU Member States in December 2009 gave the green light for the Commission to pursue negotiations towards free trade agreements with individual ASEAN countries, beginning with Singapore. At the same time, the EU is not loosing sight of the ultimate goal of achieving an agreement within a regional framework.

EU Trade Commissioner De Gucht and Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry Lim launched bilateral FTA negotiations on 3 March 2010. Ten negotiating rounds between officials from both sides have taken place between March 2010 and March 2012. EU Trade Commissioner De Gucht and Singapore's Minister Lim reviewed progress made in negotiations when meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 1 April 2012 in the margins of a meeting between the EU and the ASEAN region.