Exporters advised to update Singapore trade policies

VIETNAM, July 15 - HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Trade Office in Singapore has advised Vietnamese exporters to carefully study and keep updated on new regulations in Singapore as they become more cautious in trade policy, in order to further exploit this market.

A representative from the office said recently the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) revised the Qualified Person (QP) declaration form for export consignments of food products, which has been applicable since July 1.

On February 16, Singapore’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) proposed the Multinational Enterprise (Minimum Tax) Bill and subsidiary legislation called the Multinational Enterprise (Minimum Tax) Regulations 2025.

The proposed bill and subsidiary legislation will implement a Qualifying Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) and the Income Inclusion Rule (IIR) under Pillar Two of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) 2.0 initiative. The ministry gathered public feedback on the proposed legislation from June 10 to July 5.

The office also noted a number of changes in tax policies that Singapore is about to apply on domestic and foreign businesses, and reminded Vietnamese State management agencies and companies to regularly follow up to make suitable policy adjustments.

According to Cao Xuân Thắng, Trade Counsellor and head of Việt Nam Trade Office in Singapore, in the first five months of 2024, Việt Nam’s exports to Singapore rose 26.09 per cent to nearly 3.29 billion SGD (US$2.44 billion).

Strong growth was seen in the export of all the three major groups of products in the Singaporean market, with the group of machinery, equipment, mobile phones, components and spare parts rising 28.87 per cent; the group of reactors, boilers, machine tools and equipment and spare parts of the above machines increasing 38.86 per cent; and glass and glass products 1.74 times.

The Việt Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said that Singapore was among the top five leading markets for Vietnamese tra fish in the first five months of this year.

The Vietnamese Trade Office in Singapore said that it will continue keeping a close eye on policy and mechanism changes in the country and support Vietnamese firms to connect with Singaporean partners and promote their products in the market, while assisting Singaporean firms in exploring trade and investment opportunities in Việt Nam. — VNS