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Free Trade Agreement

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Free Trade Agreement
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1. Executive Summary………………………………………………………………... 3
2. Brief Background Information on Free Trade Agreement……………………… 4
3. Brief Overview of ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA)………..…. 4
4. Benefits of AKFTA on Companies in Singapore
a. Economic Benefits – Trade in Goods and Services……………..………… 5
b. Intellectual Property Protection………………………………………………. 7
c. Human Resource Management and Development………………………… 8
5. Challenges Faced By Companies in Singapore regarding to AKFTA
a. Lack of Information and Knowledge on AKFTA……………………..…. 9
b. Rules of Origin…………………………………………………………….. 10
6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………. 11
1. Executive Summary
This report was written to evaluate the benefits and challenges of ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) from Singapore’s perspective.
Free trade agreements are treaties signed between two or more nations in order to create free trade areas between member countries. The free trade agreement that we will be focusing in this report would be the AKFTA.
Research has shown that the three benefits that AKFTA has brought to companies in Singapore are economic benefits (trade in goods and services), intellectual property protection as well as human resource management and development.
Two challenges that are faced by companies in Singapore are the lack of awareness and knowledge on AKFTA followed by the Rules of Origin (ROO).
In conclusion, it can be seen that despite all the various benefits that AKFTA can provide for the companies in Singapore, all these would not be applicable if they do not know about AKFTA or do not have the knowledge on how to utilize it in their business.
Hence, it is important that there are information-services that are capable of informing people about AKFTA as well as other FTAs that are applicable to them. On top of that, instructions on how to utilize these FTAs should also be specifically stated down on a proper channel such as a reliable official website that



Citations: 1. FTA. (2013). Trade Agreements. Retrieved from http://www.dfat.gov.au/fta/ 2. MITI GOV MY. (2011). ASEAN-Korea. Retrieved from http://www.miti.gov.my/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_FTA-FAQs/AKFTA 3. Embassy of Republic of Korea (2010). Implementation of Korea-ASEAN FTA. Retrieved from http://www.dti.gov.ph/uploads/DownloadableForms/mac-akfta-korea05Nov10.pdf 4. (2009). Intellectual Property. Retrieved from http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2009/january/tradoc_142108.pdf 5. IESingapore. (2011). Korea-Singapore Trade. Retrieved from http://www.iesingapore.gov.sg/wps/wcm/connect/ie/My+Portal/Market+Guide/Market+Information/North+Asia/South+Korea/News/Doing+business+in+Korea+knowing+your+FTAs 6. Ritva, Laakso-Manninen., & Riitta, Viitala. (2007). Competence Management and Human Resource Development. Retrieved from http://www.haaga-helia.fi/fi/palvelut-ja-yhteistyo/julkaisut/HRDWeb.pdf 7. Genevieve, Decuzman. (2010). Impediments to FTA Use. Retrieved from http://www.adbi.org/working-paper/2010/01/13/3431.fta.philippine.business/impediments.to.fta.use/

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