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Screen quota defenders rally for Unesco draft
20-Oct-2005 JoongAng Daily
The long-running dispute over Korea’s screen quota system is moving onto new ground: the quota’s supporters are rallying around the final draft of a Unesco convention that would exclude the cultural industries in all of the organization’s member states from free trade agreements or World Trade Organization bylaws.
Romanian lawyers won an USD 353m international arbitration case against an US investor
19-Oct-2005
Romania has won at the International Court of Arbitration in Washington, the case brought by the American company Noble Ventures that contested the Romanian state actions in the privatization process of Resita Steel Plant (CSR).
Bush notifies Congress of intent to sign FTA with Oman
18-Oct-2005 White House
"Entering into an FTA with Oman will build on the FTAs that we already have with Israel, Jordan, and Morocco, as well as the FTA that we have concluded with Bahrain, and will be an important step on the path to fulfilling my vision of developing economic growth and democracy in the Middle East and creating a US Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA) by 2013."
An eye for an eye? Disregarding fairness, disconnecting from the FTAA
18-Oct-2005 COHA
Latin American countries have rightly learned to be apprehensive over the domination of the United States, and it is this reluctance that is behind their slowdown over the FTAA.
Finance liberalisation: Cabinet baulks on alien law changes
18-Oct-2005 The Nation
Thai Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said yesterday that proposed amendments to the Alien Business Act would not be presented to the Cabinet today, apparently because of growing public resentment about further opening up the country to foreign investors.
Trade accord with US
17-Oct-2005 Korea Herald
Security has been so dominant in the past in Seoul’s relations with Washington, its sole military ally, that other crucial agenda items have often failed to draw adequate attention from top South Korean policymakers.
’Negative list’ approach seen for US talks
13-Oct-2005 Bangkok Post
Thai negotiators could ultimately be forced to accept a "negative list" approach in negotiating the Thailand-US free trade area agreement, according to Pongpanu Svetarunvra, deputy director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office. Under a negative list approach, all sectors and services will be liberalised except for those explicitly stated in the agreement.
Andean trade pact: anything but popular
13-Oct-2005 anarkismo.net
Tens of thousands are in the streets of the main cities of Colombia today protesting a proposed free trade pact with the United States and accusing President Alvaro Uribe of selling out the country.
S. Korean envoy to US pledges efforts for FTA
13-Oct-2005 Korea Times
Seoul and Washington need to begin talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) as soon as possible, Lee Tae-sik, South Korea’s new ambassador to the United States, said in Seoul Wednesday.
Bahrain MPs, govt clash over Israel trade plans
12-Oct-2005 Khaleej Times
Bahrain’s parliament yesterday rejected a decision by the government to lift a ban on Israeli goods as part of a trade deal with the United States.
War support could win US contracts
12-Oct-2005 AAP
Australia’s support of the US in Iraq could help local companies crack the huge US government contract market, an American consultant on the US-Australia FTA says.
One step closer
12-Oct-2005 Oxford Business Reports
Oman came to the closing stages of its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with the US on October 3, after talks on the final details closed successfully. Omani and US officials say the final signing should now take place early in 2006.
AFL-CIO testimony to Senate Finance Committee on US-Bahrain FTA
12-Oct-2005 Senate Finance Committee
The Bahrain FTA provides precisely the wrong answers to the challenges faced by workers in Bahrain and the United States.
Bahrain-US FTA backed
12-Oct-2005 Gulf Daily News
Business giants in the US are backing the Free Trade Agreement with Bahrain as it comes under scrutiny in hearings at the Senate and House of Representatives in Washington.
Kuwaitis quietly breach a taboo: easing hostility toward Israel
11-Oct-2005 New York Times
Reports have circulated that Kuwait will lift its embargo on Israel, but they remain unconfirmed. The Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas noted that Kuwait had not yet signed a free-trade agreement with the United States. Such an agreement would not permit a trade embargo on Israel.
US hopes to conclude FTA with M’sia by June ’07
10-Oct-2005 Edge Daily
The United States hopes to conclude any possible Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Malaysia by June 2007, said Assistant US Trade Representative for Southeast Asia and Pacific Affairs Barbara Weisel.
Israel ties ruled out
10-Oct-2005 Gulf Daily News
The decision to lift boycott of Israel in line with the US FTA does not entail any economic, cultural, political, diplomatic or any other form of normalisation, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister said.
US expects FTA with Bahrain to benefit Middle East
9-Oct-2005 Gulf News
A senior US trade official has dismissed concerns by the Senate Labor Advisory Committee, saying that "the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions General Secretary has publicly hailed Bahrain as showing the way for the region" and "the disciplines and consultative mechanism in the FTA will play a major role in further improving the labour situation in Bahrain."
Hundreds rally against lifting ban
9-Oct-2005 Gulf Daily News
Hundreds of people turned up at two separate sites to demonstrate against Bahrain’s lifting of a boycott of Israeli goods yesterday
Bahrain: Of reshuffles & FTAs
5-Oct-2005 Oxford Business Group
The new ministers installed in Bahrain’s latest cabinet reshuffle inherit positions in a country that is currently breaking Arab world records in a number of sectors. With the country ahead in attracting foreign investment, it is also moving forwards in signing foreign trade pacts, as debates in the US appeared to move Bahrain closer still to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).