Singapore - The signing of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in May will generate large volumes of corporate travel between the US, Singapore and ASEAN in the mid to long term.
American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) chairman in Singapore, Ms Kristin Paulson, said: “It is a historic step - the first free trade agreement the US has signed with any Asian nation.
“This FTA will offer American companies significant benefits, including increased access to the Singapore market, landmark intellectual property protection, removal of barriers in the financial services sector and reduced restrictions on professional services.”
US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration deputy assistant of finance, service industry and tourism, Mr Doug Baker, told BTN Asia-Pacific: “In the short term, underlying issues are still holding back the respective economies of the two countries. But as the economies improve, business travellers will come back. The US-Singapore FTA will encourage travel as there is a lot of excitement about opportunities in Singapore and other places where FTAs will be signed.”
Singapore has long been viewed as an ideal platform for American businesses into the ASEAN region. More than 1,400 American companies operate in Singapore with more than 300 making it their regional headquarters.
Ms Paulson added Singapore was often referred to as “the gateway to more than 500 million consumers”, and hoped countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines would develop similar agreements.
“Greater access for US business, on increasingly hospitable trade terms, to the ASEAN region will stand out in the long term as one of the more substantive and lasting benefits of the US-Singapore FTA.”
US investment in ASEAN is US$53 billion, which is five times its investment in China, and slightly more than what it puts into its immediate neighbour, Mexico. US exports to ASEAN were US$44 billion last year, twice the amount of US exports to China.
Ms Paulson said a delegation of AmCham members would travel to Washington in June to lobby for speedy passage of the FTA through Congress.
Singapore is the 12th largest trading partner and export market of the US, and total commerce between them in 2002 was close to US$31 billion.
