Top trade official confident EU-Singapore FTA will come to pass

Brussels

AHEAD of Singapore and the European Union (EU) signing a landmark free trade pact on Thursday, Europe's top trade official is confident that it will be ratified by the European Parliament and enter into force by early next year.

And European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom is looking forward to working with Singapore to ensure that small and medium-sized companies, which she described as the backbone of economies on both sides, can take advantage of the benefits the deal offers for better access to each other's markets.