UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement enters into force

THE United Kingdom-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (UKSDEA) is entering into force on June 14, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Communications and Information, and Infocomm Media Development Authority said in a joint release that morning.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat officially announced this later the same day at London Tech Week in the UK, noting that it is Singapore’s first such agreement with a European country and the first ever for the UK.

“This agreement will make it much easier to operate in and across both markets, as the need to navigate different rules and standards is significantly reduced,” said DPM Heng, adding that he hopes businesses will “build on this new digital network to scale”.

The UKSDEA will enable new growth opportunities for Singapore businesses in the digital economy, with moves to advance end-to-end digital trade, enable trusted data flows, and facilitate trust in digital systems and participation in the digital economy.

For example, to advance digital trade, both sides will promote rules for the development of safe and secure cross-border e-payments, such as adopting internationally accepted standards. Both countries will also encourage “paperless trading” by accepting electronic versions of trade administration documents.

The UKSDEA will facilitate more seamless and trusted cross-border data flows, while prohibiting data localisation, meaning that businesses will be able to choose where to store their data.

Both sides will promote regional and global telecommunication connectivity by ensuring access and minimising risks to submarine cable systems and facilities.

And both countries will ensure that government information that has been made publicly available will be in a machine readable and open format, with easy to use and freely available application programming interfaces.

Companies that use cryptography will have the assurance that their private keys and related technologies are protected, as they will not need to transfer or provide access to these things as a condition to access either market. Software developers will have similar protection for their source code.

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Consumers can look forward to greater online consumer protection, as well as safe and secure cross-border payments.

Small and medium enterprises will receive support, with both countries promoting jobs and growth for them, as well as encouraging their participation in e-commerce platforms that link them with international suppliers, buyers and other potential business partners.

The UKSDEA also aims to achieve digital inclusion: removing barriers for participation in the digital economy so that all people and businesses can contribute to, and benefit from the digital economy.

The UKSDEA was signed on Feb 25, 2022 by Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran and UK Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

As part of pursuing cooperative projects under the UKSDEA, Singapore and the UK have also signed three Memoranda of Understanding which cover digital trade facilitation, digital identities cooperation, and cyber security, as well as exchanged two side-letters on fintech and customs cooperation.

The digital trade facilitation MOU, for example, involves pilot projects on areas such as electronic trade documents, while the fintech side-letter sets out a roadmap for the revitalisation of the UK-Singapore Fintech Bridge that was established in 2016.