Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department held a pre-negotiation consultations on the UK-Singapore bilateral investment treaty; and what are her Department's negotiating objectives for that treaty.

The Government has commenced negotiations with Singapore on a new, modern Investment Treaty.

Pre-negotiation consultation was not appropriate as these talks fulfil an existing commitment made in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the UK and Singapore to deepen existing mutual obligations on investment protection.

In our negotiations with Singapore, we will seek to guarantee clear standards of fair treatment to each other’s investors. Any deal we sign will be in the best interests of the British people and the United Kingdom economy.