Singapore, UK sign green economy framework

Illustrative image (Photo: https://www.toursingapore.net.vn/)

Hanoi (VNA) - Singapore inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on establishing a bilateral Green Economy Framework with the UK at a video conference between Singaporean Minister for Trade Relations S Iswaran and Secretary of Energy Security and Net Zero of the UK Grant Shapps on March 1.

The UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework (UKSGEF), which covers three areas of green transport, low carbon energy and technologies, and carbon markets and sustainable finance, is hoped to promote bilateral cooperation in the green economy, support economic growth and create jobs in green sectors whilst encouraging the decarbonisation of economic activities.

Singapore and the UK have identified possible areas of cooperation, such as maritime and air transport decarbonisation. The framework will also support collaboration between the two countries’ governments, academia and business communities through joint activities such as enterprise matching and co-innovation projects as well as green capability development for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Iswaran said the framework is built on the basis of the robust and dynamic bilateral economic partnership, which is underpinned by the UK-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (UKSFTA) and the UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (UKSDEA).

Through this initiative, both sides will enhance cooperation in areas such as innovative decarbonisation measures, low carbon energy and technologies, and high-integrity carbon markets.

The UK is Singapore’s sixth largest service and trading partner globally, with bilateral trade in services exceeding 23 billion USD in 2020. The UK is also the largest European investor in Singapore and the second largest investment destination in Europe for Singaporean firms. The UK has so far invested nearly 130 billion USD in Singapore, while Singapore’s investment in the UK reached nearly 65 billion USD./.