EU-Singapore in a deepening digital embrace

Two sides moving toward digital FTA to facilitate 6G adoption, AI governance and semiconductor supply chain resilience

Singapore hopes to begin negotiations on a digital free trade agreement with the European Union, one of its major trading partners, as soon as this year, building on a non-binding digital partnership agreed between the two sides in February, according to Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran.

Addressing a business outreach event on Monday (May 29), Iswaran said Singapore and the EU are in the process of identifying projects to pursue through the partnership, which aims to strengthen the interoperability of digital markets and policy frameworks between the two sides, with the ultimate goal of enabling consumers and businesses to transact online at a lower cost.

The principles established in the EU-Singapore Digital Partnership (EUSDP) represent “the first step towards a bilateral digital trade agreement between the EU and Singapore [that] will give our citizens and businesses the clarity and legal certainty they need to transact confidently in the digital economy,” said Iswaran, who is also Singapore’s transport minister.

“We look forward to launching negotiations on a digital trade agreement with the EU soon hopefully, during Sweden’s Presidency of the EU Council,” Iswaran added, potentially placing digital trade talks in the first half of 2023 when Stockholm serves as rotating council chair, building on an existing Singapore-EU bilateral free trade agreement that entered into force in November 2019.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Anwar vs Mahathir, always and forever

Ex-premier sues incumbent in $32.4 million defamation suit over ill-gotten wealth quip as the nonagenerian struggles to stay politically relevant

Malaysia’s two-time former premier Mahathir Mohamad will be 98 years old in July, but neither his age nor diminishing influence has diminished his political maneuvering. The nonagenarian former leader has been in opposition to every prime minister that succeeded him, and it is little surprise he views the incumbent – his former protégé – as unfit to rule.

In recent months, Mahathir has labeled Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as “oppressive” and accused his government of politically marginalizing the ethnic Malay majority. Mahathir also claims Anwar has pressured venue owners to cancel events promoting his “Malay People’s Proclamation”, a document in which the ex-premier lambasts corrupt Malay leaders and urges Malays to unite to “save” their race.

Most bitterly, Mahathir filed a US$32.4 million defamation lawsuit against Anwar this month after the latter implied that he had amassed personal wealth during his tenure as Malaysia’s longest-ruling premier from 1981 to 2003. Anwar has brushed aside a demand to apologize over the remark and reportedly claimed his predecessor’s wealth is an “open secret.”

Shunning calls to retire and serve as an elder statesman, Mahathir is now attempting to court Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), an ultra-conservative Islamist party that was politically trampled under his first 22-year tenure, to build a united front against Anwar, who established a “unity” coalition government after a November election that transformed the political landscape.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

The dirty five laundering Russia’s oil

China, India, Singapore, Turkey and UAE are all providing Russia a helping hand in evading Western oil sanctions

Western nations have taken major steps to cut energy ties with Russia by cracking down on imports of seaborne crude oil and refined petroleum products while imposing a US$60 price cap on sales to non-Western countries in a bid to crimp the Kremlin’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine.

At the same time, nations that sanctioned Russian oil have dramatically increased imports of refined oil products from countries that have become the largest importers of Russian crude since Moscow invaded Ukraine last February, according to a recently released report by the Finland-based Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

The organization tags five non-sanctioning countries – China, India, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore – as “launderers” of Russian oil, which is blended with non-Russian origin crude and re-exported globally, including to the very nations enforcing the price cap and embargo in what CREA describes as a “major loophole” in the sanctions regime.

Isaac Levi, an energy analyst at CREA and the report’s co-author, told Asia Times that the EU’s oil ban and price cap, imposed in December and February respectively, have cost Moscow an estimated 160 million euros (US$175.3 million) per day, but were cautiously designed to allow Russian oil flows onto global markets to keep prices down and avoid supply disruptions.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.