ISDS Case Map
ASEAN
In a small but significant step forward, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said negotiations for the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the 10-member Asean would be wrapped up by March next year and that India would show “necessary flexibility” to achieve this goal.
Japan and Southeast Asia endorsed a free trade agreement Wednesday under which tariffs would be eliminated on 90 percent of imports by both sides, but key items such as rice and beef would remain protected.
The deal is the third part of a four-step process to reach a "full" Korea-ASEAN FTA by next year.
The 10 countries that are part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed Tuesday to create an economic bloc that will eliminate barriers to free trade and production in the region.
ASEAN and Japan have agreed to put 70 categories of goods on an intensive tariff reduction list, in a show of commitment to the free trade agreement between the regional bloc and Japan.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is stepping up talks on free trade agreements with China after a similar accord with India was put on hold because of disagreements on tariff cuts.
Current political conditions in Burma make a free-trade deal between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations impossible in the near term, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said.
At present, the economic relationship is asymmetrical, with the EU market much more important to ASEAN than the reverse. But in the long run, the size and growth of the ASEAN market will make it a key source of growth and profitability for EU firms.
Malaysia's refusal to review its race-based policies is jeopardizing a proposed free-trade agreement between Southeast Asia and Europe, said the outgoing European envoy to Kuala Lumpur.
India's problems with the free trade agreement being worked out with the Asean notwithstanding, the country is eagerly exploring the possibility of entering into a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the sixteen East Asia Summit members, including the 10 Asean countries, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
