TPP: What’s In It For Singapore?

Immediately from the title of the article, "TPP: What's In It for Singapore?," we sense a Singaporean attitude towards the TPP different from many other Southeast Asian nations'. This piece suggests that Singaporeans are more reserved and perhaps even skeptical of the tangible benefits of the agreement.

The main argument in this article is that Singapore likely will not reap the same level of benefits that economically developing countries like Vietnam and Malaysia may see. The author posits that because "Singapore is...a very open economy and has free trade agreements with all of the TPP countries except Canada and Mexico," "Singapore will be a relatively small beneficiary of the TPP compared to regional neighbors Vietnam and Malaysia." In the section of the article called "Additional Benefits Minimal?," the author describes potential benefits as "incremental." Instead of the tangible benefits, the author focuses on the strategic value of the agreement, the ability to bring Singapore to the decision-making table on the world economic stage.

This attitude makes more sense in light of Singapore's economic position relative to other Southeast Asian countries. Singapore is one of the "Asian tigers" with a very developed banking system and already engaged in high volumes of trade. It is already a signatory to 21 different free trade agreement.

http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/tpp-whats-in-it-for-singapore