The Singapore-South Korea digital partnership agreement (KSDPA) entered into force fron January 14 and, among other things, it will support the development of safe and secure cross-border-payments as well as the digitalisation and exchange of commercial documents.
The KSDPA was signed by Singapore’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Tan See Leng, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister for Trade, Dukgeun Ahn, in Singapore on November 21, 2022.
Singapore and South Korea have since completed all necessary legal procedures for the agreement’s entry into force.
The two countries will promote transparent and facilitative rules, such as open APIs and adopt internationally accepted standards and promote interoperability between the two country’s e-payments systems.
Singapore and South Korea will also accept electronic versions of trade admiration documents. Both parties will also collaborate on initiatives which facilitate the use and adoption of the data exchange systems for the exchange of electronic trade documents.
Through the KSDPA, businesses operating in Singapore and South Korea will be allowed to transfer information, including those which are generated or held by financial institutions, seamlessly across borders so long as the requisite regulations are met, with adequate personal data protection safeguards in place.
The two countries will also put in place rules against requirements for data localisation and allow businesses to choose where their data is stored, and processed, and their cloud technology of choice.
Machine-readable data
Both countries will also ensure that government data that has been made publicly available will be in a machine-readable and open format, with easy-to-use and freely available APIs.
In order to ensure that companies using cryptography can trust the market within which they operate, the two countries will encourage innovation and ensure that private keys and related technologies used are protected, neither country will require the transfer of, or access to, the above as a condition of market access.
Singapore and South Korea will cooperate to promote interoperability between the respective digital identity regimes, which can bring benefits such as more reliable identity verification and faster processing of applications.
This would in turn reduce barriers in cross-border trade and enable businesses and individuals to navigate the international digital economy with greater ease, confidence, and security.
The Singapore government said the KSDPA’s “expeditious entry into force” is reflective of Singapore and South Korea’s commitment towards integrating both countries’ digital ecosystems to unlock new growth opportunities for businesses.
Singapore and South Korea have also signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to implement the Korea-Singapore Digital Economy Dialogue, facilitate the electronic exchange of data, and enhance cooperation in artificial intelligence.
These MOUs are part of ongoing bilateral efforts to develop cooperative projects to implement the KSDPA.
