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ASEAN

HIV patients urge caution on EU FTA talks
22-Sep-2012
People afflicted with the Aids virus have called on the government to proceed carefully on free-trade negotiations with the European Union, as the latter’s demands for copyright protection could make it difficult for patients to access cheap medicines.
DTI spreads awareness of free trade agreements to increase their usage
16-Sep-2012
The Department of Trade and Industry has intensified its information campaign about the country’s free trade agreements in a bid to increase their utilization rate this year.
Korea, Vietnam Hold 1st Round of FTA Talks
3-Sep-2012
The first round of free trade agreement talks between Vietnam and Korea kicked off on Monday in Seoul. During the talks that will continue until Tuesday, the two countries will discuss how to proceed with the negotiations. Seoul’s foreign ministry expects the bilateral trade pact to enhance an existing free trade agreement with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations that took effect in 2007.
Pact among ASEAN, partners could kickstart Japan’s stalled policy
3-Sep-2012 Yomiuri Shimbun
The agreement reached Thursday to start negotiations in November for a new regional economic and trade area among ASEAN countries and six partners, including Japan, is a lifeline for the nation, as its trade policy has come to an impasse.
Pan-Asian FTA possible
31-Aug-2012
Sixteen nations home to roughly half the world’s population have agreed "in principle" to create a free trade area spanning Asia, according to Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan.
India, ASEAN to review talks on FTA in services and investments
29-Aug-2012
Trade ministers of India and 10-member ASEAN will review the progress of ongoing negotiations to widen the base of free trade agreement between them by including services and investments.
Whither the Asian FTA?
14-Aug-2012 Live Mint
East Asia may be on its way to stitch a regional trade agreement. This will be at the cost of an Asia-wide deal, writes Biswajit Dhar.
Korea, Vietnam to start FTA talks
7-Aug-2012 Chosun Ilbo
Korea and Vietnam have agreed to start formal talks toward a free trade agreement. Seoul and Hanoi already have a preliminary FTA, because Korea signed a trade pact with ASEAN. But Korea’s key exports — cars, components and IT products — are not included in the pact with ASEAN, so Seoul is now seeking separate FTAs with each ASEAN member country.
Impact of EU trade pact studied
29-Jul-2012
The government will soon start consultations to identify sectors that stand to gain or lose from a free trade agreement with the European Union (EU), a senior official told reporters on Friday.
HK accession means opportunities
21-Jul-2012
If Hong Kong accedes to the China-Asean Free Trade Area (CAFTA), Malaysia would find opportunities to expand its services sector through Hong Kong’s established service-based economy.
Korea ratchets up drive to upgrade FTA with ASEAN
16-Jul-2012 Yonhap
Korea is stepping up efforts to seal high-level bilateral free trade pacts with some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in a bid to further boost trade volume, Seoul’s Trade Ministry said Sunday.
EU, PH to engage in fresh FTA talks
2-Jul-2012
The Philippines may start fresh talks with the European Union in the third quarter to iron out a proposed bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), according to the country’s chief trade negotiator.
‘India-Asean FTA has more potential for bilateral trade’
10-Jun-2012
Hyderabad/The India-Asean Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is under-utilised, as it has more potential for increasing bilateral trade, according to Mr Vichael Angelo, Commercial Attache, the Philippines Department of Trade & Industry.
Among Neighbours - How to energize India’s Look East policy
21-May-2012
India has traditionally looked West for trade, investment, and economic cooperation. But since the late 1990s, trade policy rightly focused on the Look East policy, and recognized that India needs to become integrated into the cross-border production and trade networks in Asia. The immediate attention was towards South Asian integration. But since the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the South Asian Free Trade Area remained just on paper on account of the yet unresolved differences between India and Pakistan, the government simultaneously initiated trade agreements with Southeast Asia.
EU and Asean confirm objective of free trade agreement
27-Apr-2012 The Nation
Foreign Ministers of the EuropeanUnion and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) re-stated their commitment Friday to an eventual free trade agreement between the two economic zones.
Tokyo’s trade priorities
22-Apr-2012
Achieving full free trade among its members by 2020 remains the stated goal of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) group, but few expect it to materialise due to the non-binding nature of the agreement.
PM: Still work to do on trade with Indonesia
20-Apr-2012
Despite the free trade agreement between New Zealand and Indonesia which came into force early this year there is still much to do to remove barriers to trade between the two countries, Prime Minister John Key says.
Study investment provisions before an FTA says advocacy group
20-Apr-2012
The country should carefully study investment provisions before entering into foreign trade agreements (FTAs) as these may infringe on government’s regulatory power on foreign firms, an advocacy group on Friday said.
De Gucht calls for an EU-ASEAN FTA
4-Apr-2012 Tax News
Negotiating at a regional level rather than on a country by country basis is still the EU’s preferred option in the long-term
Can Burma re-open Asean free trade talks with EU?
6-Mar-2012 Irrawaddy News
From pariah state to pivotal partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)—that’s the emerging view among many members states who see a liberalizing Burma as holding the key to better access to markets outside the region.