Singapore’s S. Iswaram, Minister of State for Trade and Industry: “The P4 has had a positive impact on Singapore-Chile trade”

By David Azócar

Singapore is one of Chile’s most important trading partners. Trade between the two nations has steadily increased in the last few years. Add to this both nations’ presence in the P4 and the importance of the relationship to Chile is clear. A person who has had a front seat to Singapore’s side of the process is Minister of Trade and Industry S. Iswaram. He was kind enough to grant our portal the following interview.

What are Singapore's main investment interests in Chile? Latin America?

Singapore's engagement with Chile's private sector has been largely in the areas of Agribusiness, Food and Beverage (F&B) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In agribusiness, the Agri-food & Veterinary of Singapore (AVA) has currently approved 9 establishments in Chile for the import of frozen meat into Singapore*.

In terms of F&B, a Chilean-headquartered company, with the assistance of International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, Latin F&B Pte Ltd, engaged in the global trade of food and beverages in the non-traditional emerging markets of Latin America, Asia Pacific, Oceania and Middle East, has set up its office in Singapore.

They have started to distribute a wide range of Latin American food products in Singapore. Singapore F&B manufacturers are also working closely with Latin F&B partners to establish distribution opportunities into the Chilean markets. In addition, Singapore ICT companies are keen to tap on the growing population and increasing demand for computer hardware and software products in the Chilean markets.

*AVA approvals for Chilean exports: 2 for frozen pork; 2 for processed pork; 3 for frozen poultry; 3 for processed poultry.

What is your evaluation of the P4 (TPP), considering the benefits for Singapore and Chile?

Asian countries are accelerating economic integration within Asia to drive growth and development. Singapore and Chile have long believed it is equally important to strengthen economic linkages between Asia and the Americas. Together with New Zealand, Singapore conceived the P3 in 2002 as a pathway to broader Asia-Pacific economic integration. P3 has since evolved to P4 after Brunei joined us in 2004. We can see that the P4 has already had a positive impact in bilateral trade between Singapore and Chile. After the launch of the P4 FTA, Singapore's trade with Chile jumped 134 per cent from 2003 to 2007 (S$350m), making Chile one of our largest trading partners in Latin America.

Our initiative has received a further boost with the decision of the US, Australia and Peru this year to join the P4. Vietnam is also considering participation. The agreement we created among four small, open economies is gaining recognition as a building block towards a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, which APEC Leaders have identified as a possible long-term APEC goal. As Chile's Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley said in Lima, the TPP provides flesh and substance to APEC. The TPP is even more significant under the current economic climate. It signals the members' shared commitment to resist protectionism and accelerate regional economic integration. This is the best way to position our economies for a strong recovery and sustained long-term growth.

We look forward to the first round of negotiations with the new members in Singapore in March 2009. We hope that other like-minded APEC economies will consider joining us in the future.

Our two nations (Chile and Singapore) are about to sign an educational agreement. In what areas do you think that Singapore will be able to transfer "know-how" experiences?

Singapore is happy that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Education Exchanges and Cooperation between the Ministries of Education of Chile and Singapore was signed on 26 Nov 2008 during Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s visit to Chile. The MOU seeks to broaden the education collaborations between Chile and Singapore in areas including teacher training, and student and teacher exchanges. We are happy to note that the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National Institute of Education (NIE) are in discussions with the Chilean Centre for Mathematical Modelling, Universidad de Chile, to explore possible collaborations in teacher training and exchanges, and research in Mathematics education.

If I may share, Singapore has learnt some useful lessons from past experiences. Some of these are now accepted as good practices among countries with high-performing school systems. These include the need to recruit quality people to become teachers, and to train them well throughout their careers. We look forward to greater sharing of best practices and experiences in other areas of education with Chile over time. 

Do you feel ASEAN may become the most important multilateral association in Asia?

ASEAN is undoubtedly an essential regional bloc. ASEAN Member States have recognised the importance of economic integration and maintaining centrality in the region, and have been focused on consistent and continuous efforts towards achieving an ASEAN Economic Community, or AEC, by 2015. The AEC is built on four main pillars* including economic integration measures and initiatives to develop a strong ASEAN and an ASEAN that has sturdy relations with global markets. To further this purpose, ASEAN has concluded a number of economic agreements both internally and with Dialogue Partners. These include the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, and FTAs with Dialogue Partners such as China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. With good links to the Asia- Pacific countries and beyond, ASEAN has also taken a central role in the growing wider regional architecture, wherein several regional groupings like the CEPEA and even FTAAP are evolving. In such a robust and dynamic economic climate, ASEAN must preserve its centrality and continue to be a prevalent and crucial grouping in Asia.

*The four main pillars are as follows: a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.

Have you heard about the Valparaiso port project? If so, what are your views?

From what I understand, Valparaiso along with San Antonio are the two most important ports in Chile, handling about 57 per cent of TEUs in Chile. From the "pan-South America" perspective, Valparaiso is strategic. Located mid-way on the Western coast of South America coupled with good facilities, it has the potential to be a hub for South American-Asia sea trade. Valparaiso itself has a very productive hinterland and handles alot of imports bound for the Santiago metropolitan area and food exports going out of the region. Valparaiso is also important to the Chilean-Asian trade. I understand that 28 per cent of the Valparaiso trade is with Asia, higher than 20 per cent in North America.

NOTE: In November 2008, Minister Iswaram accompanied Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loonguna on his State visit to Chile. A series of cooperation and technology agreements were signed.