Singapore stressed it was a low tax country rather than a tax haven and that there were no parallels with Liechtenstein, which is currently the centre of a global investigation into tax evasion through secret bank accounts. The comments, reported by Reuters, were made by Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo at a joint news conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier who was in the city state for one day as part of an Asian tour. Singapore is negotiating a free trade deal with the European Union but at the same time is resisting European efforts to make it comply with the EU savings tax directive by applying either a withholding tax on savings from undeclared EU income or automatic exchange of information. Singapore has strict bank secrecy laws and has been promoting itself as a rival financial centre to Hong Kong to manage money for wealthy local and foreign clients, prompting fears in Europe that it could become a refuge for money leaving the continent. "Singapore is not a tax haven. We are a low-tax country but not a tax haven," said Mr Yeo. "A situation which arose in Liechtenstein cannot happen here." Mr Steinmeier said he had raised the subject of tax evasion with Singapore. "The subject is being discussed with a certain amount of emotion in Germany, and rightly so, because (European) states are losing substantive assets when large entities avoid being taxed," he told the joint news conference. "I trust this is being understood here. In questions of tax law and tax secrecy Singapore and the European Union are not always of the same opinion. About that we unfortunately have to talk about," he said.