ISDS Case Map
AFTA
Some 11,700 tobacco farmers in Malaysia - most of them in Kelantan - will be affected come 2010 when the original Asean members of Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore enact zero tariff rates on virtually all imports.
There has been a spate of trade agreements signed between countries in recent years - from the same region and even beyond. And this may not necessarily have to do with the fact that it has been a tough going for the multilateral trading system. Regionalism may have its own dynamics.
This IMF working paper of July 2005 describes the proliferation of PTAs in the Asia-Pacific region, discusses their
characteristics and implementation, and assesses their potential effects.
Malaysia's ties with the economic powerhouse of China are set to strengthen further with the implementation of the Asean-China Free Trade Area (FTA), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Friday.
A huge interest was aroused when Singapore signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. The impression was that Singapore, though a vital member of Asean, was independent-minded in forging its economic interest beyond the regional grouping.
Indonesia will not be able to take advantage of increasing world trade liberalization because many stakeholders here are not even aware it is going on, an official says.
A mammoth regional grouping involving Asean and other countries and groups is in the works.
Malaysia is joining a long and growing list of Pacific nations rushing to sign free-trade agreements with their biggest trading partners.
We - farmers, fisherfolks, rural women, workers from the formal and informal sectors, and NGOs belonging to the Stop the New Round! Coalition - express our strong opposition to the Philippines government's mad pursuit of bilateral free trade agreements particularly with Japan, China and the USA.
South Korean carmakers Hyundai and KIA are considering setting up a production base in Southeast Asia to take advantage of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).
