The Philippines is exploring the possibility of forging a bilateral agreement with Taipei, with talks to start between the two governments this week at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation trade ministers’ meeting in Japan.
New Zealand, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, agreed to begin work on a free trade accord with Russia, the world’s largest market for butter and cheese. Any such deal will include Belarus and Kazakstan, according to NZ trade minister Tim Groser.
The Democratic National Alliance in Sri Lanka has decided to ask for a parliamentary debate on the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to be signed with India and asked the government to disclose the contents of the agreement.
Although Governments of India and Sri Lanka have shown keen interest in expediting their mutual trade pact, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is likely to get delayed after local business leaders have expressed grave concerns over its impact on Sri Lankan economy.
A new website, "Trans-Pacific Partnership Digest", has been launched to provide a comprehensive data base of material on the negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement involving New Zealand, the US, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The second round of negotiations will take place in San Francisco next week.
The just-concluded EU-ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Madrid ended with apparent agreement on economic integration mechanisms and the EU calling the ASEAN countries not to implement protectionist measures.
The India-Sri Lanka agreement is like the story of two farmers who share a cow by owning two equal halves of the cow. They tied a rope around the belly of the cow. One owned the front part and the other the rear. Farmer who owned the rear got all the economic benefits including milk, calves and even manure while the other paid for it!
“Negotiations were suspended because EU countries added a clause depriving GCC countries the right to impose duties on EU exports in the future,” the Director General of the External Economic Relations Department at the Gulf Cooperation Council said.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday said Sri Lanka would not enter into trade agreements that would have an adverse effect on the country’s economy when he met a group of protestors against the implementation of a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with India.
Negotiations on a Korea-Peru free trade agreement (FTA) could be finalized by November, a development that would further enhance bilateral ties and precede a possible state visit by Peruvian President Alan Garcia, Peru's vice foreign minister said Wednesday.
Australia Tuesday denied that its planned 40 percent mining tax would hurt attempts to strike a free-trade agreement with China, a key market for the country's resources.
