Myanmar
The United States will sign a pact with Southeast Asia next week to boost trade and investment, but the plan has been scaled down because of Myanmar, whose poor human rights record has hindered trade relations, officials said Saturday.
The European Union wants to strike a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but human rights issues in Myanmar could be a problem, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson has said.
Japan will not demand as much market opening in negotiations on free trade agreements with Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, compared with talks with the more developed members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, it was learned Monday.
With no transactions in the past two years, the term of the Account Trade Arrangement (ATA) between Burma and Bangladesh has expired without any initiative for renewal.
