The governments of Korea and Singapore on the 2nd (local time) launched negotiations to upgrade their free trade agreement (FTA) and promised to strengthen cooperation in advanced technology fields, taking Lee Jae-myung's state visit to Korea as an opportunity.
The two governments issued a joint declaration on the launch of negotiations to improve the Korea-Singapore FTA as a result of a summit between President Lee and Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on the day. The declaration called for advancing bilateral trade cooperation by improving the FTA in four areas—supply chains, the green economy, trade facilitation, and aviation MRO (maintenance, repair and operations).
The FTA between the two governments took effect in March 2006 and has remained in force. It was the second FTA the Korean government concluded after Chile.
Korea and Singapore also signed five MOUs (memorandums of understanding). In the small modular reactor (SMR) field, they agreed to jointly develop a business model for an innovative SMR (i-SMR) and to cooperate on workforce development. They also signed MOUs to share AI policy for public safety and to jointly explore AI transition plans in the field of intellectual property.
In addition, the two governments agreed to jointly use environmental satellites to research air quality and to strengthen cooperation in quantum, space, and satellite technologies.