The meetings that will continue this week within the framework of the Fifth Round of Negotiations between Mercosur and Singapore, with the aim of moving towards the conclusion of a free trade agreement between both parties in the current semester, the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry reported on Monday (30.05.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX).
The first part of this V Round took place in Singapore between May 9 and 13 of this year.
The meetings involve some 70 negotiators and experts from both sides in the groups of Trade Defence, Technical Barriers to Trade, Services, Electronic Commerce and Legal and Horizontal Affairs.
The conclusion of this agreement is a priority for Mercosur. Singapore is an important trade and investment partner for the block. In 2021 the Mercosur exports totaled 5.929 million while the Imports reached 1.252 billion dollars.
This agreement not only implies the diversification of trade flows and the improvement of conditions for the establishment of investments between both parties, and in particular with Singapore is not only a major capital provider in the world, but also an update of disciplines to the highest global standards.
Paraguay is coordinating these negotiations for Mercosur and its delegation is made up on this occasion of diplomats and experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
Singapore's chief negotiator is Dr. Francis Chong of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Mercosur's delegations are headed by Minister Luis Levit of the Argentine Republic, Minister Philip Fox-Drummond Gough of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Ambassador Enrique Franco of the Republic of Paraguay, and Ambassador Alejandra De Bellis of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.
The first round of negotiations took place in Buenos Aires in April 2019. (Press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay)
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