FIN. TeamFollowing its agreement in principle, on 25 February 2022, the International Trade Secretary joined her counterpart in Singapore and signed the trade deal- the Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) – that will help businesses seize new opportunities and lay the ground rules for modern global trade.
The deal aims to streamline cumbersome border processes and replace time-consuming and costly paperwork with e-signatures and e-contracts. Other benefits include strengthening the UK and Singapore’s relationship for financial services by ensuring data can flow freely without unjustified barriers and enhanced cooperation for innovative financial services.
In addition to signing the DEA, UK and Singapore also agreed to revitalise the existing FinTech Bridge, a move that will support innovative financial services, strengthen cooperation on emerging technologies and help provide extra support for UK and Singaporean firms and investors to expand into each other’s markets, so both countries can capitalise on opportunities in our advanced FinTech sectors.
The UK can now add Singapore to its list of already negotiated trade agreements with Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and will be pursuing negotiations with Israel, Canada and Mexico later this year.
