Jordan’s Agreements with Asia

Jordan-Singapore Free Trade Agreement

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Jordan and Singapore signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the first trade pact with a Southeast Asian country. The two countries also signed a bilateral investment treaty to foster more business between them and agreed to liberalize their services sectors beyond their World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, the Singapore government said.

The trade pact was signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Jordan will eliminate its duties on 97.5 per cent of all goods from Singapore within 10 years, while Singapore will remove all duties for Jordanian products entering the city state, Singapore's ministry of trade and industry said in a statement.

Trade between the two countries was just S$45.6 million ($26.9 million) in 2002, but analysts see Jordan as providing a toe-hold for Singaporean businesses in the oil-rich Middle East and also for reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

“What we have built is a virtual superhighway,” said Raymond Lim, Singapore minister of state for foreign affairs and trade and Industry. “Our private sector is encouraged to travel on it — to leverage on the FTA and the good relationship between the two countries and explore new opportunities in Jordan and the rest of the Middle East.”

The full text text of the agreement will be posted soon.