Singapore’s services trade with Russia could be at risk if Moscow retaliates for sanctions over Ukraine: analysts
- Negotiations over the services part of a free-trade pact with the Eurasian Economic Union were closing to wrapping up just as war broke out
- Russia’s envoy to Singapore last week berated it for unilateral sanctions, saying economic deals would be under ‘severe supervision’
The island republic is the only Southeast Asian nation to have sanctioned Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, imposing export controls on items that can be used to inflict harm on Ukrainians and directing financial institutions to not deal with a list of Russian entities.
Just before the war broke out, Singapore and Russia were about to put the finishing touches on the “services agreement” aspect of a free-trade pact between the city state and the Eurasian Economic Union of post-Soviet states.
The main Eurasian Economic Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement was signed in 2019 including a deal on tariff-free non-service merchandise trade.
If Russia were to call time on negotiations over the services part of the pact then Singapore might miss out on revenue from exporting financial services, said Julien Chaisse, a trade professor at City University of Hong Kong who specialises in international economic law and the World Trade Organization.