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The Sixth Trade Policy Review of Singapore July 24 & 26, 2012
Statement by the Republic of Korea Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, we would like to extend our warmest welcome to the delegation of Singapore led by Permanent Secretary Ow Foong Pheng to Geneva for their sixth trade policy review. We would also like to thank Ambassador John Adank of New Zealand for his insightful comments as discussant as well as the Secretariat for its usual comprehensive and informative report.
Mr. Chairman, we are pleased to note that, as strong supporters of the multilateral trading system, Singapore and Korea have long maintained a mutually supportive economic relationship.
Last year, Singapore was Korea’s ninth largest trade partner with total bilateral merchandise trade reaching approximately 30 billion US dollars which had doubled since 2006, when the bilateral FTA entered into force.
In addition, the Korea-ASEAN FTA that took effect in 2007 for goods and 2009 for services, respectively, has helped further deepen the already close economic ties between the two countries.
Turning to Singapore’s overall economic performance, it is commendable that Singapore has recovered promptly from the impact of the 2008 global financial and economic crisis, thanks to the effective combination of countercyclical fiscal and monetary policies as well as strong economic fundamentals and labor market flexibility.
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Also, as the Secretariat report rightly highlighted, Singapore remains one of the most market-oriented and open economies in the world, which undoubtedly helped it demonstrate a great degree of resilience in the midst of the global economic downturn. At the same time, we would like to encourage Singapore to continue to pursue trade liberalization by, for example, binding its unbound tariff lines as a means to further enhance predictability.
We submitted a number of advance written questions to Singapore on issues of our particular interest and we thank Singapore for providing detailed replies to our questions.
Mr. Chairman, before coming to this meeting, we glanced at the official website of the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore and took particular note of its slogan right above an enchanting night view of the city of Singapore. It reads that “MTI will strive to ensure that Singapore will continue to be a city of opportunities, where people and enterprises can grow and succeed.”
We very much hope and expect that Singapore, as one of the most active players in the WTO, will also continue to make important contributions in our common endeavor to craft the WTO into an organization of opportunities, where Members can grow and succeed.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, we would like to express, once again, our appreciation to the delegation of Singapore and Ambassador Kwok Fook Seng for their hard work in preparing for today’s meeting, and wish them a very successful TPR.
Thank you.
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