Singapore, Brazil ink avoidance of double taxation pact

SINGAPORE and Brazil have signed a comprehensive bilateral Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (DTA), as part of the ongoing effort to further facilitate bilateral trade and investment cooperation.

The document was inked in Singapore on Monday by Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and his Brazilian counterpart Aloysio Nunes Ferreira. The latter is on a three-day official visit that ends on Wednesday.

In a statement, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that the two countries also welcomed Singapore's removal from Brazil's list of low tax jurisdictions. They also look forward to the early ratification of the DTA.

Brazil - Singapore's largest source of frozen chicken, beef and pork - is Singapore's third-largest trading partner in Latin America. According to latest figures, the trade in goods amounted to US$3.4 billion in 2017.

Since 2004, bilateral trade in services has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 33.9 per cent, reaching US$1.7 billion in 2016. Bilateral investment has also been "growing steadily", said the MFA.

Singapore and Brazil have welcomed initial discussions on a free trade agreement (FTA) between Singapore and the four-nation Mercosur bloc, with the aim of launching a first round of negotiations in the third quarter of 2018.

The Mercosur member states - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay - have a combined population of over 260 million people, with total gross domestic product of US$2.5 trillion.

The FTA will promote greater trade and investment between Mercosur member states and Singapore by "creating more favourable business conditions among the parties", said the MFA statement.