Joint Announcement by the Japanese and Singapore Prime Ministers on the Completion of Negotiations of the Japan-Singapore Economic Agreement for a New Age Partnership (JSEPA)

20th October 2001 in Shanghai

1. The Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, and the Prime Minister of Singapore, Goh Chok Tong, had a bilateral meeting in Shanghai on 20 October 2001 to discuss issues of mutual interests, including terrorism, the global economy, the new WTO round and the JSEPA.

2. The two Prime Ministers announced that the Governments of Japan and Singapore had successfully concluded the negotiations on the JSEPA, and that the agreement should be finalised by the end of this year for signature. The JSEPA would be the first comprehensive and substantive bilateral economic partnership agreement in Asia.

3. The two Prime Ministers recognised that the economic partnership of the two countries would create larger and new markets, and would institutionalise regulatory and other policy reforms in both countries, enhancing the attractiveness and vibrancy of their markets, and expanding trade not only between them but also in the region.

4. They reaffirmed their commitment to the efforts towards maintaining and strengthening the multilateral trading system, and recognised the catalytic role which regional trade agreements play in accelerating global trade liberalisation and rule making in the framework of that system.