A leading player in the natural healthcare industry, Sydney-based Blackmores has operated in Southeast Asia for more than 40 years, with a presence in Singapore since 1995.

In 2014, Blackmores opened its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. Singapore is an ideal hub for Blackmores' expansion into Southeast Asia, due to its excellent infrastructure, good governance, skilled work force and business-friendly regulatory regime.

According to Peter Osborne, Blackmores Managing Director Asia

"Blackmores has benefited from FTAs such as SAFTA. It has reaped the rewards of tariff reductions and improved people movement.

As a result of SAFTA, our business people will find it easier to work in Singapore, helping to establish the relationships you need to be successful in business in Singapore and the region."

The upgrades to SAFTA will provide businesses such as Blackmores greater certainty in trade and investment into the future.

Blackmores has worked extensively with the Australian government to ensure that the upgrades to SAFTA continue to meet the needs of business.

"If you want a good strong FTA you've got to be part of the process and contribute," Osborne says.

The Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), which entered into force in 2003, is Australia's second oldest FTA.

The upgrade to SAFTA is our most comprehensive update to an Australian FTA to date. As a result:

• our business people will be able to work and stay more easily in Singapore;
• investors and exporters will benefit from harmonised rules and less red tape; and
• new opportunities will open up for Australia's world-class education and services sectors.

The Australia-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, announced in 2015, provided the impetus to modernise SAFTA.

April 2018