THE new trade agreement between the European Union and Singapore is expected to create 'additional upswing' for foreign trade on the continent, the German port of Hamburg enthuses.
The trade deal sees Singapore abolish all customs duties on EU products, plus clears up bureaucratic red tape. It marks the first trade deal between the EU and Southeast Asian nation, and makes Singapore the EU's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia by a wide margin.
Singapore was the port of Hamburg's second largest trade partner last year, with a total of 380,000 TEU transported, equal to 4.3 million tonnes of seaborne cargo.
In the first nine months of this year, container transport between Hamburg and Singapore was up 4.1 per cent, port figures show.
"The trade agreement between the EU and Singapore will also produce additional upswing for seaborne foreign trade in the port of Hamburg and benefit national economies in the EU and Singapore," CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing Axel Mattern was quoted as saying in a report by European Supermarket Magazine, Dublin, Ireland.
Some 15 liner services connect the port of Hamburg with Singapore, nine for containers and six for general cargo.
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