The negotiations process for a Free Trade Agreement between the Mercosur and Singapore was concluded during the Mercosur Summit under the Pro Tempore Presidency of Paraguay upon six rounds initiated in 2019.
The conclusion of negotiations was announced on 20 July 2022 by the Deputy Minister of Economic Relations and Integration, National Coordinator, Ambassador Raúl Cano Ricciardi, and the Minister of Trade and Industry of Singapore, Gan Kim Yong, on occasion of the Sixtieth Ordinary Meeting of the Common Market Council.
Both authorities stated that the Agreement proves the strong commitment of the Mercosur and Singapore to deepen the reciprocal commercial relationship, to expand the opportunities for companies, and to contribute to the welfare of their citizens.
From now on, the Parties will initiate the legal review process of the Agreement for its quick signing and entry into force.
This Agreement is the first one of the Mercosur with a country from the Southeast Asia, and it will allow to expand the trade flows, greater predictability by means of modern disciplines and better conditions for investments.
The negotiations comprised more than 100 negotiators and experts from the Mercosur and Singapore in the technical groups dealing with the Initial Provisions and Definitions, National Treatment, and Market Access, Rules of Origin, Trade Protection, Bilateral Safeguard Measures, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Customs Procedures, and Trade Facilitation, Movement of Natural Persons, Electronic Commerce, Investments, Procurement, Intellectual Property, Competence, SMEs, Legal Transparency, and General, Final and Institutional Provisions.
In 2021 the commercial exchange between both parties reached about 7 billion dollars. The main export goods of the Mercosur: poultry products, ferroalloys, pig meat, beef, and iron ores.
On the other hand, the main import products: insecticides, integrated circuits, medicines, and vessels.
Singapore is one of the main suppliers of capital in the world with a great potential investor, whose sovereign funds are among the first 10 in the world.
Likewise, in 2020, the direct foreign investment of Singapore in South America, Central America, and the Antilles was 127 billion dollars, and in the world, more than 930 billion dollars.
The negotiating team of Paraguay included officials and technicians of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, National Board of Customs, National Board of Public Procurement, SENACSA, SENAVE, and the National Board of Intellectual Property.
