ISDS Case Map
ASEAN
South East Asian countries are dragging their feet on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU, with officials saying that the countries still need to be convinced of the benefits of the region-to-region deal.
Officials from the EU and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) pledged on Friday 2 March to speed up their efforts to negotiate free trade agreements, both at the bilateral level and eventually at the region-to-region level, following a meeting in Singapore.
Palm oil would be at the top of Malaysia’s agenda on its free trade talks under the Asean with the European Union (EU).
Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) Lim Hng Kiang said on Thursday all ASEAN members must keep pursuing deeper economic integration and liberalization so that citizens can enjoy the benefits of their collective community efforts.
The Ministry of international Trade and Industry (Miti) said the session would also be discussing implementation of the 2017-2018 Asean-EU trade and investment work programme, stock-take on Asean-EU relations and exchange views on the recent global and regional economic developments.
Large portion of Indian tea sector is skeptical about outcome of free trade agreement of India with ASEAN countries. After the agreement comes into full effect, duty cut in import of the green beverage is feared to cause severe adverse impact on Indian tea production sector.
China has affirmed Asean's core role in negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The leaders of three of Asia’s biggest economies will aim to advance a free-trade agreement and economic cooperation, putting territorial rows and military tensions aside at an expected trilateral summit in April, Chinese diplomatic observers said.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, is going ahead in the absence of the US is a testament to Japan’s role in shepherding the tough negotiations through some tumultuous times.
