SINGAPORE: Singapore and Turkey have ratified the Turkey-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (TRSFTA), and it will come into force on Oct 1, 2017, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Monday. The ratification of the agreement builds upon the strategic partnership signed between Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in October 2014.
MTI said that the TRSFTA will reduce barriers to trade and investment between Turkey and Singapore, enhance access to services sectors and procurement markets, as well as promote greater connectivity between businesses and people. Tariffs for Singapore’s exports to Turkey on 80 per cent of all tariff lines will be eliminated immediately once the TRSFTA enters into force. This will increase to more than 95 per cent of all tariff lines over a period of 10 years. It will also help more Singapore companies to leverage Turkey’s trategic location as a gateway to the larger regional markets in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Turkish firms are also encouraged to use Singapore as their base to seek opportunities in the rapidly growing Asean region and beyond.
