ISDS Case Map
bilateralism & multilateralism
how bilateral, multilateral, regional, unilateral and plurilateral approaches relate (e.g. FTAs vis-à-vis WTO)
A PowerPoint file presented at the FTA Workshop in Bangkok on July 28, 2006.
ACP countries cannot continue with the EPAs agenda as if the failed WTO talks are irrelevant to the EPAs context. An option would be to take advantage of the proposed review of the Cotonou Agreement upon which the EPAs negotiations are based. ACP countries should not wait for the EU to do this for them.
While much attention focuses on international trade negotiations, developing countries also introduce trade reforms nationally as part of World-Bank supported economic adjustment programmes.
China will not shy away from using bilateral or regional free trade agreements to facilitate trade, the Ministry of Commerce said on Friday. The remarks came after WTO chief Pascal Lamy warned that China's pursuit of separate bilateral and regional free trade agreements would harm its long-term commercial interests.
China has voiced its concern over increasing trade protectionism by its counterparts, which it sees as the main threat to its competitiveness in the world market.
With the World Trade talks in limbo, the focus remains on aggressively pushing on the bilateral front. What could not be achieved through a multilateral trade regime, is now being pursued by the US through bilateral and regional deals. Devinder Sharma connects the dots.
Bilateral trade deals are not in the interests of anyone, EU President Finland said on Friday, in the first public criticism of European Commission plans to seek one-on-one pacts with Asian countries.
Imbalances related to China's foreign exchange policies cannot be addressed by China alone and require an international effort, Supachai Panitchpakdi, head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.
WTO chief Pascal Lamy on Wednesday warned that China's pursuit of separate bilateral and regional free trade agreements would harm its long-term commercial interests.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has explained that Singapore's free trade agreements with the countries it has sealed with so far are a stand by if the Doha round of multilateral talks does not succeed.
