SINGAPORE – The Singapore Business Federation is setting up a new public-private partnership initiative to boost cross-border trade and investment between local companies and their regional peers.
SBF said in a statement that the CFOTI aims to build a regional community of trade and investment practitioners, thought leaders and government officials working together to advance global trade. “We hope that for businesses, you can also play your part by staying nimble, agile and responsive,” he noted.
However, the reorientation of trade flows has also led to the formation of new trade corridors within South-east Asia that have benefitted from an increase in imports of intermediate goods from China and exports of finished goods to the US. “The demise of the rules-based multilateral trading system will result in greater uncertainty and economic losses for all developing countries – including a 33 per cent decline in global trade in goods, as well as permanent GDP loss of over 5 per cent,” said Mr Denton.