Singapore endorses WTO initiative to regulate requirements for domestic service providers
Add BT as a preferred source[SINGAPORE] Singapore will join a World Trade Organization (WTO) initiative regulating standards for domestic service providers.
The initiative "will establish enhanced rules to improve the overseas business environment for Singapore's services exporters", noted Mr Lee Chuan Teck, Permanent Secretary (Development) at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The regulations require participating WTO members to respond to enquiries from businesses and publish information on authorisation requirements and processes, he added.
The rules will also ensure predictability and fairness by requiring that regulatory processes are based on objective and transparent criteria.
Mr Lee made his comments on Wednesday (Sept 22) in the Swiss city of Geneva, the venue for Singapore's eighth Trade Policy Review (TPR).
As a WTO member, Singapore must periodically review its trade and economic policies. Its last TPR was in 2016.
Mr Lee said Singapore retains its aspiration of being a global business node: "As a small and open economy, Singapore cannot afford to be closed off to the world."
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services
TRENDING NOW
Xi Jinping has just rewritten the rules of US-China rivalry
High Court raps UOB over inconsistent legal positions on late mortgage payment charges
‘Whole deck of cards just toppled’: FoodXervices’ Nichol Ng on how a 92-year-old family business unravelled – and what’s next
China’s Huawei reveals chip design breakthrough amid US sanctions
