The ministry said the two countries’ chief negotiators signed negotiating rules in the presence of Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Yeo. The signing followed a March summit agreement to begin talks on improving the FTA.
After the signing, South Korea held the first round of negotiations with relevant ministries including the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Talks were conducted in four working groups: supply chains, the green economy, aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, and trade facilitation.
Yeo also held a series of meetings with Gan; Tan See Leng, minister in charge of digital, supply chain and energy; and Grace Fu, minister in charge of World Trade Organization and multilateral trade issues. The ministry said they discussed ways to speed up upgrade talks on the Korea-ASEAN FTA and the Korea-Singapore FTA, strengthen the foundation for economic cooperation with New Southern Policy countries, and bolster minilateral cooperation.
Separately, Yeo met in relay talks with energy trading firms and commodity information and analysis organizations alongside Rep. Lee Eon-ju, chair of the Korea-Singapore parliamentary friendship association and a lawmaker from the Democratic Party. The ministry said meetings with Vitol, Trafigura and S&P Global were used to share outlooks for global energy markets and explore response options.
Yeo also held a meeting with South Korea’s four refiners operating locally to review crude oil and naphtha supply and demand conditions and hear difficulties faced by companies.
The ministry said Yeo carried out outreach to expand Singapore investment in South Korea’s advanced industries and broaden exports of Korean consumer goods. He visited Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek and stressed the need for sustained investment cooperation. He also met with Shopee, Southeast Asia’s largest e-commerce company, to discuss a dedicated section for Korean products, as well as cooperation on certification and logistics to help South Korean small and medium-sized companies expand in Southeast Asia.
Yeo visited the Hyundai Motor Group Singapore Global Innovation Center, described as Singapore’s advanced manufacturing innovation hub, and PSA, a global port operator, to review on-site artificial intelligence for next-generation manufacturing and the status of logistics automation technology.
“Following up on the March summit, we launched FTA upgrade talks and discussed key economic cooperation issues including supply chain stabilization, investment attraction and boosting cross-border online shopping,” Yeo said. “We will work to ensure this visit leads to tangible outcomes that help our companies.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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