ISDS Case Map
FTAAP
Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific (APEC)
This week 21 trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group are making plans for the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), which they hope to finalise by end of 2015.
The US is reportedly opposing discussion of FTAAP at the upcoming APEC summit.
The process of launching the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area (FTA) is expected to start during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday.
China’s pursuit of free trade within the Asia-Pacific region is shaping up as one of the key issues to be discussed at this year’s APEC summit to be held in Beijing in November.
The proposed APEC free trade agreement (FTAAP) is expected to be on a larger scale than the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, but many Vietnamese businesses are not enthusiastic about the trade pact.
The trade ministers of economies belonging to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) discussed over the weekend potential pathways to a wider Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).
The backlash from the Japanese farming lobby against the TPP is already looking savage and it seems safe to predict that this will prove to be the case elsewhere in Asia as negotiations on the TPP push on apace.
Asia-Pacific leaders said they will take “concrete steps” toward creating a “comprehensive” regional free-trade agreement, without setting a target for achieving that goal.
The US is pushing to complete trade talks with nine Asia-Pacific countries by late next year that lays the groundwork for a bigger agreement that includes China, Trade Representative Ron Kirk said.
Senior regional officials concluded their meeting Monday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama with a decision to pursue a regionwide free-trade zone.
