2-Apr-2007
Tanzania has failed to register any significant progress in negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union for the past 13 months.
2-Apr-2007
The signing of the Japan-Thailand free trade agreement in Tokyo tomorrow could eventually be proven invalid as the signing process is unconstitutional, a legal expert said yesterday. Thammasat University law lecturer Banjerd Singkhaneti said the interim constitution did not authorise the coup-installed government to sign the bilateral trade pact, also known as the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA).
2-Apr-2007
The decision of the interim government to sign the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (Jtepa) spells doom for most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have low competitiveness compared to Japanese high-technology industries, some key Thai industries say.
2-Apr-2007
The Nation
A group of Thai non-governmental organisations led by FTA Watch yesterday launched a campaign against the Surayud government over its plan to sign a free-trade pact with Japan tomorrow. The Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement will cause tremendous damage to a massive number of farmers and allow a foreign country to take over the country's biological resources, while only a few exporters would benefit, they said.
2-Apr-2007
Yonhap
Top-level officials from South Korea and the United States struggled Monday to come up with major compromises in their final stage of negotiations on a proposed free trade agreement (FTA), with the deadline for the talks extended for the second time in two days.
2-Apr-2007
Bangkok Post
Critics of tomorrow's signing say the interim Thai government has broken promises and failed to reveal details of the pact, but the biggest question they have is why Surayud is in such a hurry
1-Apr-2007
Yonhap
A South Korean man set himself afire on Sunday to dramatize his opposition to a proposed free trade agreement between his country and the United States, as negotiations were coming to a close, with an extended deadline only hours away. The 56-year-old taxi driver, identified only by his surname Heo, was in serious condition at a hospital after the protest 20 meters from the front gate of a heavily guarded Seoul hotel where the final talks were under way.
1-Apr-2007
AFP
Malaysian opponents of a free-trade deal with the United States celebrated Saturday after the countries missed an end-of-the-month deadline to fast-track an agreement.
1-Apr-2007
tralac
Following a comprehensive examination of the most recent merchandise trade flows between the relevant countries this paper looks at the possible economic results from removing all merchandise tariff barriers between the three partners of India, Brazil and South Africa/SACU.
1-Apr-2007
Via Campesina
From our standpoint, upcoming Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Thailand and Japan involves big problems which will bring misery of people in both countries.
