ASEAN
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for an early review of the ASEAN-India trade in goods agreement that has been pending for a long time at the virtual ASEAN-India Summit.
China’s interconnectivity strategy under the Belt and Road Initiative enables Thailand to better exert the agreement on market opening under the framework of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.
Minister of Trade Agus Suparmanto attended a virtual ’special caucus’ meeting of 10 ASEAN Economic Ministers discussed status of the RCEP draft and consolidated ASEAN countries’ position in preparation for the signing of RCEP agreement in this year.
This study casts serious doubt on earlier more optimistic projections of projected gains and shows that the case for proceeding with the RCEP without India’s participation is even less convincing.
Indonesia is set to sign a trade agreement with South Korea and seeks ensure that a larger deal at the regional level will also be inked, as the country focuses on increasing overseas market access in the hopes of lifting its economy out of the mire of the pandemic.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said that the commitments relating to Hong Kong and Brunei member state, under the trade and and investment agreements between Hong Kong and ASEAN, will enter into force on Oct 20.
India’s insistence on reviewing its free trade agreement (FTA) in goods with the ASEAN region may not be done as quickly as it hopes, as most of the Southeast Asian nations are reluctant to immediately start getting into the nitty gritty of negotiations.
As of last week, there are at least 8 distinctive cooperative frameworks relating to the Indo-Pacific region, which reflects the region’s growing economic and strategic importance within the rapidly-changing international stage.
Southeast Asian countries facing the daunting challenge of kick-starting economic recoveries from COVID-19 are showing little interest in a step that could help — fast-tracking free trade talks with the European Union.
India is engaging with the 10-member ASEAN to review the free trade agreement, Parliament was informed on Friday.
Now most countries, particularly those in Southeast Asia, are not only facing the economic and social repercussions of a protracted outbreak but also witnessing emerging trends that will permanently change the way we live and do business.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Mogi from Japan confirmed that they will continue to cooperate towards the signing of the East Asian Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) within the year.
South Korea said Monday it will launch the second round of free trade negotiations with Cambodia this week as the country broadens efforts to expand its export portfolio to cushion the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic.
India has pitched for stronger provisions in the rules of origin, removal of non-tariff barriers and better market access in the existing FTA with the the ASEAN, arguing the changes should kick off sooner rather than later.
Negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have entered the final stage of legal scrubbing and are set to be signed soon, with the exclusion of India.
The government is reviewing the continuation of the of the free trade agreement (FTA) with Asean n the wake of the trading bloc’s reluctance to address India’s concerns over what it believes are asymmetries in the decade-old treaty.
A revised free trade pact between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations facilitating the cross-border flow of services and investment entered into force on Saturday.
Cambodia has listed around 340 more commodities to export to China under the Cambodia-China bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA), bringing the total to more than 10,000. Most of the products are in agriculture and agro-processing and are in addition to what Cambodia has received from the Asean-China FTA, according to a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce.
The biggest concern of India with RCEP at this juncture is not merely the economic reasons, but more geopolitical: the existence of China.
The current pandemic, and the treaty claims which are likely to stem from it, are a reminder of the importance for ASEAN to be engaged in ongoing discussions at the United Nations of possible reform of the system of investment treaty arbitration.
