Building a special place in Europe-Asia trade: EU-Singapore commercial relations

Singapore, through the colonial era up to the present, has fulfilled an entrepôt role in European-Asian economic trade. This role continues, but Singapore has increasingly promoted and undertaken the role of being a bridge between Asian business culture and western business culture. The government of Singapore has actively encouraged the city to become a centre of western-style financial institutions and a place where an uncorrupt ‘rule of law’ is applied to commercial transactions. On the other hand, the Singapore business community has strong traditional relation-based networks across Asia. It is a place where European Union business persons can operate in a familiar milieu yet connect with wider markets across Asia. To facilitate this relationship both Singapore and the EU have negotiated formal trade, financial and broader-based agreements. The chapter reviews a selection of these formal agreements.