The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of the Republic
of Singapore,
Desiring to strengthen their traditional ties of friendship, to extend and intensify
their economic relations and to encourage investments on the basis of equality in
order to develop the industrial and commercial activities of their countries,
In this Agreement –
“investments” includes every kind of asset, in particular –
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(a) movable and immovable property as well as any other rights in rem;
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(b) shares or other kinds of interests in companies;
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(c) title to money or to any performance, such as goodwill, having an economic value;
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(d) rights in the fields of intellectual property, technical processes and know how; and
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(e) such business concessions under public law, including concessions regarding the prospecting
for, or the extraction or the winning of natural resources, which give to their holders
a legal position of some duration.
“nationals” in respect of either Contracting Party means –
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(a) natural persons having the nationality of that Contracting Party;
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(b) legal persons constituted in accordance with the laws of that Contracting Party; or
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(c) legal persons controlled directly or indirectly by nationals of that Contracting Party
and constituted in accordance with the laws of the other Contracting Party.
“intellectual property” means the rights relating to –
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(a) literary and scientific works;
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(b) phonograms;
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(c) inventions in all fields of human endeavour;
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(d) scientific discoveries;
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(e) industrial designs;
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(f) trademarks, service marks, and commercial names and designations;
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(g) protection against unfair competition; and
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(h) all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific
or literary fields.
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(2) In particular they undertake to promote cooperation between their nationals and to
facilitate, within the framework of their respective legislation, the participation
of their nationals in the establishment of industrial and commercial activities and
the provision of services in their respective countries which would contribute towards
the improvement of the standard of living in and the prosperity of their countries.
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(1) To further the achievement of the aims of the present Agreement, each Contracting
Party is prepared, within the limits of its legislation, to authorize their nationals
to deliver capital goods to and carry out public works for governmental and private
enterprises, in the territory of the other Contracting Party, against payment by instalments.
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(2) Either Contracting Party shall authorize, subject to its legislation, the transfer,
when due, of the sums owing to creditors who are nationals of the other Contracting
Party.
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(1) The Contracting Parties undertake to promote the development of international merchant
shipping services. In doing so they shall maintain free and normal competitive conditions.
Either Contracting Party shall refrain from taking any discriminatory measures against,
and from restricting the free participation in international traffic of merchant vessels
flying the flag of the other Contracting Party and operated by nationals of that Contracting
Party or merchant vessels chartered by nationals of the latter Contracting Party.
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(2) Either Contracting Party shall accord in its ports to the merchant vessels flying
the flag of the other Contracting Party and operated by nationals of that Contracting
Party or merchant vessels chartered by nationals of the latter Contracting Party the
same treatment as it accords to its own vessels. This provision applies, without prejudice
to the provisions of international conventions binding on the Contracting Parties,
to custom formalities, port fees and port charges, the free entry into ports, the
assignment of berths, facilities for loading and unloading, and to all other facilities
accorded to shipping and to economic activities in connection with merchant vessels,
their crews, their passengers and the cargoes they carry.
Nationals of either Contracting Party shall, in the field of the protection of intellectual
property, enjoy in the territory of the other Contracting Party protection not less
favourable than that enjoyed by the nationals of the latter Contracting Party, without
prejudice to the provisions of international conventions in this field binding on
the Contracting Parties.
Each Contracting Party undertakes to facilitate with regard to the other Contracting
Party, to the extent permitted by the former Contracting Party's legislation and without
prejudice to the provisions of international conventions binding on the Contracting
Parties –
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(a) the holding in its territory by the other Contracting Party or by its nationals of
economic and commercial exhibitions and displays;
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(b) the importation, duty-free, of goods, materials and equipment to be used for economic
and commercial exhibitions and displays, on condition that they are re-exported within
a limited period;
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(c) the importation, duty-free, of professional equipment, and of goods, materials and
equipments to be used for technical work on behalf of governmental bodies or private
enterprises, on condition that they are re-exported within a limited period;
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(d) the re-exportation, duty-free, of goods, materials and equipment referred to in (b)
and (c); and
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(e) the disposal of goods, materials and equipment referred to in (b) and (c) in the territory
where they have been used, subject to the payment of duty.
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(1) Each Contracting Party shall ensure fair and equitable treatment to the investments
of nationals of the other Contracting Party and shall not impair, by unjustified or
discriminatory measures, the management, maintenance, use, enjoyment or disposal thereof
by those nationals.
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(2) More particularly, each Contracting Party shall accord to such investments the same
security and protection as it accords to those of its own nationals or to those of
nationals of third countries, whichever is more favourable to the investor.
Recognizing the principle of the freedom of transfer, each Contracting Party shall
authorize, subject to its relevant most favourable laws and regulations, the transfer,
without undue restriction and delay, to the country of the other Contracting Party
and in the currency of that country of payments resulting from investment activities,
and in particular –
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(a) nett profits, interest, dividends and other current income;
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(b) funds necessary
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(i) for the acquisition of raw or auxiliary materials, semi-fabricated or fineshed products,
or
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(ii) for the replacement of capital assets, in order to safeguard the continuity of an
investment;
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(e) additional funds necessary for the development of an investment;
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(d) earnings of natural persons;
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(e) the proceeds of liquidation of capital;
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(f) funds in repayment of loans;
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(g) management fees; and
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(h) royalties.
Neither Contracting Party shall take any measures depriving, directly or indirectly,
nationals of the other Contracting Party of their investments unless the following
conditions are complied with:
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(a) the measures are taken in the public interest and under due process of law;
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(b) the measures are not discriminatory or contrary to any undertaking which the former
Contracting Party may have given to the particular nationals concerned; and
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(c) the measures are accompanied by provisions for the payment of just compensation. Such
compensation shall be paid and made transferable, without undue delay, to the country
of the nationals affected and in the currency of that country.
The Contracting Party in the territory of which an investment has been made, in respect
of which investment the other Contracting Party or a national thereof has granted
any financial security against non-commercial risks, shall recognize the subrogation
of the grantor of that security into the rights of the investor as to damages if payment
has been made under that security.
The Contracting Party in the territory of which nationals of the other Contracting
Party make or intend to make investments, shall after the exhaustion of all local
administrative and judicial remedies, agree to any demand on the part of such nationals
to submit, for arbitration or conciliation, to the Centre established by the Convention
of Washington of 18 March 1965 on the settlement of investment disputes between States
and nationals of other States, any disputes that may arise in connection with the
investments.
In respect of any matter governed by the present Agreement nothing in this Agreement
shall prevent nationals of one Contracting Party from benefiting from any right more
favourable to them and accorded by the other Contracting Party.
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(1) Any dispute between the Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application
of the present Agreement which cannot be settled within a reasonable lapse of time
by means of diplomatic negotiations, shall be submitted, at the request of either
Contracting Party, to an arbitral tribunal composed of three members. Each Contracting
Party shall appoint one arbitrator and the two arbitrators thus appointed shall together
appoint a third arbitrator as their chairman who is not a national of either Contracting
Party.
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(3) If the two arbitrators are unable to reach agreement, in the two months following
their appointments, on the choice of the third arbitrator, either Contracting Party
may invite the President of the International Court of Justice to make the necessary
appointment.
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(4) If, in the cases provided for in the paragraphs (2) and (3) of this Article, the President
of the International Court of Justice is prevented from discharging the said functions
or is a national of either Contracting Party, the Vice-President shall make the necessary
appointments. If the Vice-President is prevented from discharging the said functions
or is a national of either Contracting Party, the most senior member of the said Court
who is not a national of either Contracting Party shall make the necessary appointments.
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(5) The tribunal shall decide on the basis of respect for the law. Before the tribunal
makes a decision, it may at any stage of the proceedings propose to the Contracting
Parties that the dispute be settled amicably. The foregoing provisions shall not prejudice
the power of the tribunal to decide the dispute ex aequo et bono if the Contracting Parties so agree.
As regards the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the present Agreement shall apply to the
territory of the Kingdom in Europe, to Surinam and to the Netherlands Antilles, unless
the Diplomatic Note of the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, provided
for in paragraph (1) of Article XVII of the present Agreement, stipulates otherwise.
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(1) The present Agreement shall come into force on the thirtieth (30th) day after the
date of the exchange of Diplomatic Notes by the Contracting Parties confirming that
all formalities for the coming into force of the present Agreement have been fulfilled
in the respective countries, and shall remain in force for a period of five (5) years.
Unless written notice of termination has been given by either Contracting Party at
least six months before the date of the expiry of its validity, the present Agreement
shall be extended tacitly for another period of five (5) years, and so on, each Contracting
Party reserving the right to terminate the present Agreement upon written notice of
at least six months before the date of expiry of the current period of validity.
