U.S. committed to Asian trade pacts

U.S. committed to Asian trade pacts    U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in a meeting Thursday with Singapore Minister of Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said the United States remains committed to Asian trade pacts, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
   'The Commerce Department looks forward to working with Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry to advance our interests in strengthening the ASEAN community,' Locke said in a statement.
   Singapore is also the head of the APEC forum in 2009. Locke praised Singapore for its 'solid contributions to APEC work being made this year.'
   The United States and Singapore entered a free trade agreement in January 2004. Since then, two-way trade between the countries has increased 41 percent, with U.S. exports increasing nearly 74 percent over the same period.