Indonesia ready for FTA with New Zealand, Australia
The Jakarta Post, 30 July 2011, Linda Yulisman
Indonesia is ready to soon implement a free trade agreement with Australia and New Zealand as part of a free trade pact signed by ASEAN and the two countries. Trade Ministry director general for international trade cooperation Gusmardi Bustami said Friday in Jakarta that the finance minister was preparing items for the legal enactment of the agreement, which would contain a schedule to lift tariffs. More…
FTA between China, Costa Rica to enter into force on Aug. 1
Xinhua, China, 30 July, 2011
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Costa Rica and China, the first such pact inked between China and a Central American country, will enter into force on Aug. 1, Foreign Trade Minister Anabel Gonzalez said. Both sides have completed the necessary procedures exchanged all the diplomatic notes, the Foreign Trade Ministry said in a statement. More…
Dhaka, KL moving ahead to sign FTA deal
The Financial Express, Dhaka, 29 July, 2011, Nazmul Ahsan
Dhaka is moving ahead steadily to sign an accord on a bilateral Free Trade Area (FTA) with Kuala Lumpur as the ministry of commerce (MoC) has recently sent its “well-guarded position”, containing a template on the proposed FTA to the Malaysian government, a top ministry official said. The ministry has clearly made the proposal in the “template” to include the provision of ’movement of natural persons’ under the Mode-Four (IV) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the FTA. More…
Asia is at the leading edge of new trade pacts, says WTO report
WTO News, 27 July, 2011
Burgeoning bilateral and regional trade agreements meet the need to regulate global production and can benefit non-members, but the WTO’s multilateral system also has a role in reducing the resulting complexity, according to the latest edition of the organization’s flagship publication released on 20 July 2011 in Geneva. More…
Clinton terms Korea-US FTA ‘model agreement’
Yonhap News Agency ( Seoul ), 25 July, 2011, Kim Young-gyo
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday that the country’s free trade deal with South Korea is a “model agreement” for the world’s largest economy. The Korea-U.S. FTA, known as KORUS FTA, was signed in 2007 and supplemented last December. It has been awaiting approval from the legislatures of both countries. More…
EU/Mercosur agreement: “too much fear from both sides”
MercoPress (South Atlantic News Agency), 25 July, 2011
A trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union would significantly expand European investment given the increase in bilateral trade, but ‘there’s too much fear from both sides’, according to Adrian van den Hover head of international relations for Business Europe. More…
Thailand wants early FTA with Pakistan: Thai Minister
Associated Press of Pakistan, 25 July, 2011
Thai government is focusing on an early meeting of Pak-Thai Joint Trade Commission for early signing of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries. Thai Minister, Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs, Mr Nat Pinyo WattanaCheep said this during a meeting with businessmen at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. More…
Lamy says trade pacts pose new challenge to the multilateral trading system
WTO News, 20 July, 2011
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, in launching the World Trade Report 2011 on 20 July 2011, warned that preferential trade agreements (PTAs) “may lock in their members to a particular regulatory regime reducing the potential for trade to prosper with countries outside the arrangement”. “The new challenge posed by deep PTAs to the multilateral trading system is one of market segmentation because regulatory systems, which can become divergent, have now more importance on trade flows than tariffs,” he added. More…
EU seeks huge duty cuts on auto, wines in its FTA with India
The Economic Times, 17 July 2011
The European Union has sought substantial reduction or even elimination of duties in export of its automobiles, wines and spirits to India as a “must have” in the free trade agreement being negotiated between the two sides. More…
Gov’t signs letters of intent with Philippines in economic meetings
The China Post, Taiwan, 17 July 2011
Taipei and Manila managed to reach various consensuses and sign two letters of intent during their just-concluded economic cooperation meetings in the Philippines, Taiwan’s economics minister said. More…
China, EU to seek bilateral investment treaty
Xinhua and China Daily, 14 July 2011
China and the European Union (EU) have agreed to negotiate a bilateral investment treaty, said China’s Minister of Commerce Chen Deming during a joint briefing in Beijing with the visiting EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. More…
GCC-ASEAN FTA discussed
Oman Daily Observer, 13 July 2011
Officials at the GCC and ASEAN countries stressed the importance of enhancing co-operation in the fields of trade and investment and exploring the possibility of negotiation regarding the Free Trade Agreement between the two groups. More…
Pakistan and Sri Lanka agree to negotiate trade agreements in August
Colombo Page, 06 July 2011
On the sidelines of the 10th session of Pakistan-Sri Lanka Joint Economic Commission on Tuesday the two countries have agreed to hold FTA review meeting and CEPA negotiations in August 2011 in Colombo. More…
Korea-EU FTA set to hurt Japanese auto sales
Korea Times, 05 July 2011
Japanese carmakers such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan struggled to secure a firm market share in Korea in the first half of 2011 while other imported auto brands boasted record sales. Owing to the FTA, the market is witnessing shifting in favour of European vehicles. More…