Morrison talks trade with Singaporean PM

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong discussed the deal, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, at their annual leaders meeting on Friday.

Mr Morrison said there had been some delay and frustration with many of the countries involved - including Australia - going through elections in the first part of the year.

"But with much of that now completed I think there is a very good opportunity for considerable focus to be placed on this and to meet that timetable," he told reporters in Singapore.

"While there may be challenges in the great powers and how they're seeking to conclude their arrangements, other sovereign independent states are getting on with the business of trade, investment and co-operation and partnership in this region."

Mr Morrison expanded on his comments at a business lunch later, saying the US-China trade war was having a "very negative influence" on global economic performance.

"This is frustrating because many of the fundamentals of the global economy have strengthened," he said.

"What is the big risk currently on the horizon, the one that is sapping confidence and causing people to hold back a bit? It is obviously uncertainty around the trade issues between the United States and China, so it is in all of our interests for that to be resolved."

This made it all the more important for countries such as Australia and Singapore to work together.

The two leaders also agreed to task their trade ministers to find new areas the nations can co-operate on in the digital economy, and report back by October.

"There is scope for deep collaboration particularly in areas like e-invoicing, digital identities, e-payments and artificial intelligence," Mr Lee said.

The pair announced Australia would dramatically increase the number of working holiday visa places reserved for Singaporeans, up from 500 to 2500, and an intention to sign a treaty by year's end that will lead to Singapore troops training in central Queensland.

They discussed progress on an open skies agreement and an updated deal on the avoidance of double taxation, which has not been changed since it was signed in 1969.

The leaders were asked about foreign interference concerns, with Singapore looking at Australia's new laws with a view to modelling its own efforts on what has been done Down Under.

"We are all watching one another, what measures we are taking, what we can learn from what other people do," Mr Lee said, noting that the long-standing problem had morphed and become more serious with the tools of social media and the internet.

The meeting in Singapore comes at the end of a packed overseas trip for Mr Morrison, who has also been to the Solomon Islands and D-Day commemorations in the UK over the past week.

"Whether it's the Indo-Pacific, specifically here in Southeast Asia or in the southwest Pacific, it is my government's intention to be very, very focused on where we live and the countries with whom we live in this part of the world," he said.

Australian Associated Press