SINGAPORE-AUSTRALIA TRADE MORE THAN DOUBLES SINCE FTA

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, July 27 (Bernama) -- Bilateral trade between Singapore and
Australia has more than doubled since the signing of the Singapore-Australia
Free Trade Agreement (Safta) in 2003.

Trade between the two countries amounted to S$26 billion ( 1 USD = 1.43 SGD)
last year compared with S$12 billion in 2003, said the joint communique issued
in conjunction with the 6th Singapore-Australia Joint Ministerial Committee
Meeting here Monday.

It said Singapore's investments in Australia had also increased, with direct
investment rising to S$15.8 billion in 2007 from S$4.65 billion in 2003 while
Australia's direct investment in Singapore was S$4.2 billion as of 2007.

In the meeting, Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo led the Singaporean
delegation while Australia was headed by its Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen
Smith.

The ministers noted that both economies were already very open to foreign
trade and investment, and called on their officials to look at continued
cooperation and facilitating trade and investment flows under the Safta
framework.

Safta has helped anchor Australia's interests in the region, and catalysed
further economic integration between Australia and Asean, the communique said.

It said Singapore and Australia also agreed to increase bilateral transport
cooperation including working towards an Open Skies Agreement, which would
benefit significantly to both sides.

Both countries also agreed to strengthen their defence ties by continuing
professional interactions and exchanges between both armed forces, and increase
their joint participation in international security operations in confronting
common threats to their security.

The ministers also reaffirmed the continuing importance and relevance of the
Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) to regional security.

They also exchanged views on a wide range of global and regional
issues and noted that the United States, China, Japan and India had important
roles to play in maintaining security and stability in the region.

The ministers agreed that transnational terrorism remained an ever present
threat for the region to deal with, and strongly condemned the Jakarta hotel
attacks on July 17 and expressed solidarity against such acts of terrorism.

The meeting recognised that terrorism would remain a constant threat in the
region and reiterated the commitment and efforts of both countries in countering
terrorism.

Both countries also agreed to enhance cooperation on information-sharing to
strengthen border systems and coordination among law enforcement agencies to
address the issues of human smuggling.

-- BERNAMA