From fairway to greenway

THIS year marks the 20th anniversary of the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement – the first such agreement that the United States signed with an Asian country. To date, it is still the US’ only FTA with an Asean partner.

Remarkably, this historic partnership began with a golf game between two leaders – then prime minister Goh Chok Tong and president Bill Clinton. We’ve all heard the cliche of using golf as a business networking and dealmaking tool. Yet the US-Singapore FTA has proven to be a significant milestone in the bilateral relations of the two countries.

More importantly, we’ve seen this relationship continue to thrive through other initiatives, including the bilateral Climate Partnership in 2021, and more recently, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). Launched in 2022, this framework consists of four pillars that cover trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy.