Singapore, Panama agree to launch negotiations for FTA.

SINGAPORE, Feb. 17 Kyodo

Singapore and Panama agreed Tuesday to start negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), with a target of concluding the pact within a year.

Panamanian Vice President Arturo Vallarino and Commerce and Industry Minister Joaquin Jacome Diez reached the agreement in a meeting with Singaporean Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo in Singapore, a joint statement said.

''During this meeting, both parties agreed to initiate negotiations for a bilateral FTA,'' it said. ''Negotiations are expected to be completed within a year.''

The FTA will be the first between Singapore and a Central American country, and between Panama and a Southeast Asian country, the statement said.

The Panama-Singapore FTA will be a valuable platform from which to unlock the benefits of deeper economic ties between the two strategically located trading centers, one serving the Americas and the other the Asia-Pacific region, it said.

Beyond promoting trade and investment flows, an FTA will promote greater synergy between the two economies with complementary strengths in the logistics, transport and maritime sectors, the statement said.

Singapore, which has been actively pursuing bilateral FTAs in recent years due to disenchantment with the slow progress of global trade talks, has signed FTAs with the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the European Free Trade Association, which groups Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway.

Singapore is currently negotiating FTAs with Mexico, Canada, South Korea, India, Jordan and Sri Lanka. It is also holding talks with New Zealand and Chile for a so-called ''Pacific Three'' free trade pact.