Mercosur and Singapore sign trade agreement; further details to be announced on Dec 7th

Mercosur has reached an agreement to create a free trade area between the bloc and Singapore. The deal, the first between the South American group and a Southeast Asian country, will allow both sides to expand trade ties, enjoy greater predictability, and better conditions for investment expansion.

According to sources involved in the negotiations, the agreement will be announced on December 7th at the Mercosur summit in Rio de Janeiro. To take effect, the deal still needs to be ratified by the Parliaments of each respective country.

Singapore is one of the largest financial investors in Brazil through sovereign funds, particularly in sanitation and infrastructure.

According to Brazilian diplomats, the elected government of Javier Milei in Argentina has signaled that it does not intend to oppose the agreement. Milei, as a candidate, went as far as saying that the country would leave Mercosur.

Negotiators interviewed by GloboNews emphasize that this agreement shows Mercosur and Singapore’s strong commitment to deepening their trade relationship, opening doors for new opportunities for their companies.

In April, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore, Vivian Balakrishnan, was in Brasília and met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, to discuss the agreement.

The Singapore representative also met with Vice President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services Geraldo Alkimin and Finance Minister Fernando Haddad.

The negotiations involved over 100 negotiators and experts from Mercosur and Singapore in different technical groups. In 2021 alone, the trade exchange between the bloc and the Southeast Asian country approached 7 billion dollars.

The chart below, developed with DataLiner data, shows the container trade between Brazil and Singapore between Jan 2010 and Sep 2023.

Brazil-Singapore Container Trade | Jan 2020 – Sep 2023 | TEU

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Among the main export products of Mercosur are poultry products, railway alloys, pork and beef, and iron minerals. Meanwhile, the bloc’s main imports include insecticides, integrated circuits, pharmaceuticals, and vessels.

Source: G1

Click here to read the original text: https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2023/11/28/mercosul-e-singapura-fecham-acordo-comercial-anuncio-sera-feito-na-cupula-do-dia-7.ghtml

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