Upgraded trade deal to beef up S'pore-Japan cooperation: Vivian

Tokyo

THE planned "upgrading" of the agreement on the economic partnership between Japan and Singapore should be completed around the end of this year, paving the way for stepped-up cooperation between the two countries, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement (JSEPA) is Japan's first free-trade deal and Singapore's first with a major trading par…