Business Times – 19 January 2010 – SME Voices

Topic: On the China trail

The recent Asean-China FTA has triggered hopes that it will expand Asia’s trade reach, and boost intra-regional trade. How best can Singapore SMEs benefit from the new trade agreement?

Sonya Madeira-Stamp
Managing Partner
Rice Communications

BEING the biggest free trade bloc in terms of population affecting roughly 1.9 billion people; and the third biggest in terms of economic potential with the aggregated GDPs of the countries involved reaching more than US$16 billion; the Asean-China FTA stands to boost the competitiveness of Singapore SMEs particularly those looking to extend their footprint into bullish China.

SMEs would have access to 11 integrated markets and would benefit immensely from the reduction or elimination of trade barriers and boundaries in such areas as technology transfers, human resources/talent recruitment, skills and capabilities development.

SMEs would have greater and easier access to business opportunities, trade partners and new customers. They would also be able to optimally explore financing and investment options regionally, should they decide to embark on aggressive expansions in growth-oriented markets.

In addition, as the Asean-China FTA bolsters overall cooperation and trade inter-dependence amongst nations, SMEs will reap the benefits of a strong public-private partnership and better, more transparent trade governance.

Read the rest of the responses from CEOs and Directors of SMEs, on Business Times Online.