Singapore, 8 East African states open talks on first FTA
Why it matters: The pact would be Singapore's first trade deal with an African partner and the bloc's first with a country outside Africa.
Singapore and the East African Community agreed to start negotiations on a free trade agreement linking the city-state with eight East African countries. President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, speaking in Dar es Salaam alongside Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan on June 9, said the deal would widen market access, improve the flow of goods and services, and create opportunities in areas including the digital economy. The bloc's members are Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The leaders also witnessed agreements on trade flows, carbon credits, skills development and double taxation during Tharman's June 8-10 state visit, the first by a Singapore president to Tanzania.