THE UNITED STATES-SINGAPORE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
Highlights and Insights
edited by Tommy Koh (Director, Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore) & Chang Li Lin (Research Associate, Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore)
Table of Contents (59k)
Chapter 1: The USSFTA: A Personal Perspective (125k)
Tommy Koh is Ambassador-At-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Institute of Policy Studies, Chairman of the National Heritage Board, Director of SingTel and Chairman of the Chinese Heritage Centre. He was Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 1968 to 1971 (concurrently accredited as High Commissioner to Canada) and from 1974 to 1984 (concurrently accredited as High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico). He was Ambassador to the United States of America from 1984 to 1990. Professor Koh was President of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea from 1980 to 1982. He was Chairman of the Preparatory Committee and the Main Committee of the UN Conference on Environment and Development from 1990 to 1992. He served as the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1993. He was Chairman of two WTO dispute panels and was a member of a previous panel. He was Chairman of the National Arts Council from 1991 to 1996, Director of the Institute of Policy Studies from 1990 to 1997, and Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation from 1997 to 2000. He was also Singapore's Chief Negotiator for the US–Singapore Free Trade Agreement (2000–2003). Professor Koh received, in addition to his postgraduate qualifications from Harvard and Cambridge universities, an honorary doctorate in Law from Yale University and various awards from Columbia, Stanford, Georgetown and Tufts universities. His publications include The United States and East Asia: Conflict and Co-operation (Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies & Times Academic Press, 1995), The Quest for World Order: Perspectives of a Pragmatic Idealist (Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies & Times Academic Press, 1998), and Asia and Europe: Essays and Speeches (Singapore: Asia–Europe Foundation & World Scientific Publishing, 2000). Currently a Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore, he was Dean of the Law Faculty from 1971 to 1974.
Chang Li Lin is a Research Associate at the Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore, where she covers the institute's work in international relations and international law. Her recent published work includes “Singapore's Troubled Relations with Malaysia: A Singapore Perspective” in Southeast Asian Affairs 2003 (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2003). She has a Master's in International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury, and a BA (Hons) in Sociology and International Relations. Her current interests are the foreign policy of Singapore, ASEAN issues, civil society in Singapore and peacekeeping issues.
On 1 January 2004, the US–Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA) came into force. The USSFTA was the result of a two-year negotiation process which started towards the end of the Clinton Administration and concluded under the Bush Administration. How did the negotiation process straddle the two administrations? What is the rationale for the FTA? What were the unique features of the negotiating process? Was negotiating with the US different from negotiating with other countries? How will the FTA benefit the two countries? What is the impact on ASEAN, APEC and the WTO?
This book captures some of the personal insights thrown up in the negotiations and offers highlights and analysis of the USSFTA. Contributors to the volume include the Chief Negotiators of the two delegations, the US and Singapore Ambassadors, key negotiators and close observers of the process. Selected key documents pertaining to the USSFTA process have also been included. This book is a comprehensive reader on the story behind the negotiations of the USSFTA.
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