SINGAPORE, Nov 11: Singapore and the United States hope to conclude “substantively” a free trade agreement (FTA) this week, the city-state’s Trade Minister George Yeo said Monday.

“This week, we hope to conclude substantively our FTA with the US,” he said in a speech at the American Chamber of Commerce here. A number of issues, including financial and legal services, are understood to be blocking the conclusion of the deal but the two sides have said the talks are nearing conclusion.

Last month, US Ambassador to Singapore Frank Lavin said he saw a finishing line to the negotiations but did not give a date.

“Some of the remaining issues or some of the stickier ones (are) left but there’s been goodwill and professionalism throughout. So I remain optimistic that at some point we are going to get to the finishing line,” Lavin said.

“I think both sides have a seriousness of purpose and we make good progress in each round,” the ambassador added.

Singapore, a small city-state that is largely trade dependent, has been Southeast Asia’s foremost advocate for FTAs.

It has already signed free trade deals with New Zealand, Japan, the European Free Trade Area and Australia and is negotiating accords with Canada and Mexico.

But the biggest prize will be an accord with the United States, the world’s biggest economy and the number one buyer of Singapore-made goods.

The US accounted for 22.3 percent of Singapore’s key non-oil domestic exports (NODX) worth 96.7 billion Singapore dollars (54.3 billion US) in 2001, making it the number one destination for NODX, a crucial health barometer of the island’s economy. In his speech Yeo said “all these agreements are win-win arrangements for the parties involved.”

The FTAs have not only strengthened Singapore’s position as a hub for manufacturing and services but also allows it to help “clear the minefields” for other Southeast Asian countries to jump into the free trade bandwagon, he said.—AFP