UK and Singapore sign new innovative digital trade deal
The UK International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and the Singapore Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S. Iswaran signed the UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) which is the first by a European nation. The DEA aims at bolstering the trading relationship between the two countries which was worth £16 billion in 2020. To this aim, it will end outdated rules that affect both goods and services exporters, making it easier for UK business to target new opportunities in both Singapore and the wider region. It will also cut red tape for goods exporters, streamlining cumbersome border processes and replacing time-consuming and costly paperwork with e-signatures and e-contracts. ‘This digital agreement plays to our strengths as a services superpower and will ensure our brilliant businesses can build back better from the pandemic and benefit from easier, quicker and more trusted access to the lucrative Singapore market,’ said Trevelyan.