Conclusion of the Third Round of the Peru-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, 29 September 2006

Conclusion of the Third Round of the Peru-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, 29 September 2006

Singapore and Peru have concluded their third round of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement that will strengthen the trade and investment relations between the two countries.

Singapore's Chief Negotiator Ms Mary Elizabeth Chelliah (Deputy Director, APEC & Americas, Ministry of Trade and Industry) and Peru’s General Coordinators Mr Carlos Kuriyama & Mr Luis Mesias from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism reached substantive agreement on 28 September 2006 at the end of the third round of talks in Singapore from 25 to 28 September 2006.

Significant progress was made on a range of issues during this round of negotiations with the rules of origin, investment, e-commerce and dispute settlement chapters being completed succesfully. The chapters on trade in goods, customs procedures, trade in services, government procurement and technical barriers to trade are near completion, with only a few outstanding issues left to be resolved.

The Peru-Singapore FTA was first launched by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique at the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders Meetings in Santiago, Chile, on 19 November 2004.The first round of negotiations was held in Singapore from 14 – 17 February 2006 and the second round of negotiations was held in Lima, Peru, from 12 – 16 June 2006.

Peru and Singapore will be working intensively to resolve the few remaining issues so as to announce the conclusion of the FTA as soon as possible.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN TRADE AND TOURISM, PERU

MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY, SINGAPORE
29 September 2006