The Kingdom is currently ranked as Singapore’s 14th largest trading partner based on Q1 2010 trade figures. Trade has also seen an increase of 6.6 percent in Q1, a positive sign of the upturn since the 2009 economic downturn, according to Nordin Yatim, vice consul (commercial) at the Singapore Consulate and Jeddah-based director of International Enterprise Singapore.
Singapore’s top exports to the Kingdom include civil engineering equipment and parts, plastics, vehicle parts and pipe fittings.
“Singapore has bilateral cooperation frameworks in place with various GCC countries including the Investment Guarantee Agreement (IGA) with Saudi Arabia that was signed in 2006, a simplified Double Tax Avoidance Agreement, as well as the establishment of the Saudi-Singapore Joint Business Council led by the Singapore Business Federation,” Yatim told reporters during an iftar party hosted by the consulate at the Jeddah Hilton on Saturday. “To make the Kingdom more attractive to foreign investors, the Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority, which facilitates foreign investment, also provides tax relief of up to 20 percent for non-GCC companies.”
Singapore’s presence across the Kingdom is strong, Yatim said.
The GCC-Singapore FTA agreement is a comprehensive one that encompasses trade in goods and services including government procurement. The deal will grant tariff-free access for about 99 percent of Singapore’s domestic exports to the region, while all GCC goods entering into Singapore will be granted tariff-free access.
The agreement will come into force after all the GCC countries ratify it. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain have yet to ratify the agreement. Singapore’s potential tariff savings from this agreement will amount to about $130 million per year, according to the estimates of its Ministry of Trade and Industry.