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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).
FT: Washington seals trade agreement with Oman
5-Oct-2005 Financial Times
The US and Oman said on Monday they had concluded talks on a free trade agreement, the fifth deal completed in the Middle East by the US as part of an effort to build a web of economic ties in the region over the next decade.
South Africa: trade beat
5-Oct-2005 Business Day
Trade talks appear to have picked up pace in the latter part of the year. SA has another free-trade deal in the bag and talks with the US are scheduled to resume after a year-long stall.
US, Thailand make ’significant progress’ in free trade talks
4-Oct-2005 AFP
The United States and Thailand have made "significant progress" in their latest round of talks to forge a free trade agreement, the US Trade Representative’s office said on Monday.
End of monopoly in food sector will benefit customers
4-Oct-2005 Gulf News
The UAE’s decision to eliminate the monopoly in the foodstuffs sector will have a profound impact on the economy, according to analysts and businessmen.
US, Oman reach free trade agreement
4-Oct-2005 Xinhua
The United States and Oman have reached a free trade agreement (FTA) to eliminate tariffs and barriers and expand trade between both countries, US Trade Representative Rob Portman and Omani Minister of Commerce and Industry Maqbool Bin Ali Sultan announced Monday.
Free trade isn’t free of partisan politics
4-Oct-2005 Daily Journal
Bitter partisanship is putting the United States’ trade agenda in the Americas in serious jeopardy.
Hawaii talks leave key points out
3-Oct-2005 Bangkok Post
Thailand and the United States have sorted out some technical issues but not major points during the week-long fifth round of the Thailand-US free trade talks that ended yesterday in Hawaii.
Intensive talks to solve disagreement over free trade agreement
1-Oct-2005 Arabic News
Intensive talks between Egypt and the USA, especially on intellectual property, are currently take place as a preliminary step toward concluding a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
US-Swiss free-trade deal "extremely valuable"
30-Sep-2005 swissinfo
An independent report says a free-trade accord between Switzerland and the United States would have "extremely valuable benefits" for both countries.
Saudi Arabia accession to WTO (2005)
30-Sep-2005
Information sheets from USTR
Bahrain societies flay move to normalise ties with Israel
30-Sep-2005 Gulf News
Nineteen societies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have rapped moves to normalise relations with Israel and called for joint national and regional efforts to abort the US-initiated Broader Middle East project.
Thailand’s bilateral trade pacts face mixed reception
30-Sep-2005 VOA
Thailand has been aggressively negotiating bilateral and regional trade agreements in the face of the uncertainty over whether the WTO will reach a deal on liberalizing global trade. But the agreements fail to live up to expectations of increased trade and investment.
The importance of the FTA to Thailand
30-Sep-2005 American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand
Ambassador Nitya Pibulsonggram, the chief negotiator for the Thailand-US Free Trade Agreement, spoke to AMCHAM members on May 25, 2005 about the importance of the FTA to Thailand.
Disagreement over data protection holding up US-Andean FTA
30-Sep-2005 BRIDGES
Ecuador’s opposition to US demands on access to test data for clinical drug trials has emerged as a primary obstacle in the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) talks between the US and a group of three Andean countries.
Democrats press labor ahead of Bahrain FTA vote
30-Sep-2005 ABC News
US Democrats pressed Bahrain on Thursday to change its labor laws before an expected vote in Congress this year on a bilateral free trade pact with the tiny kingdom known as the Gulf’s banking hub.
The price of going to market
29-Sep-2005 Americas Program, International Relations Center (IRC)
Last year was the tenth anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and nearly all evaluations of the agreement conceded that the period showed negligible or negative results for Mexico. As the developing country partner of the agreement, Mexico’s experience under NAFTA has major implications for other developing nations negotiating FTA’s, particularly with the United States.
Proposed RP-US FTA may center on telecom and financial sectors
29-Sep-2005 PIDS
In a recent round table discussion sponsored by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, the service industries - specifically the telecommunication and the finance sectors - were tackled as two of the crucial areas where the Philippines can have the best potential if the FTA agreement with the US pushes through.
SACU/US trade negotiations on
28-Sep-2005 AllAfrica.com
Botswana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry will host a meeting of the Southern African Customs Union and United States (SACU/US) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations this week in Gaborone.
US congressional report on trade mission to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
28-Sep-2005 Ways and Means Committee
On July 3-9, 2005, a bipartisan delegation of Members of the Committee on Ways and Means of the US House of Representatives traveled to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru regarding the ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement with the countries and to discuss investment and security issues in the region.