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Uribe for US FTA, Colombia against
12-Feb-2006 Prensa Latina
President Alvaro Uribe will travel to the US on Monday to talk about free trade agreements while most Colombians continue rejecting that trade scheme.
No US-ME free trade talks this year but with Egypt
12-Feb-2006 MENAFN
According to US Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East Shaun Donnelly, the only Arab country under consideration for beginning FTA talks before the summer of 2007 is Egypt.
Oman-US FTA gathers momentum
11-Feb-2006 Zawya
Notwithstanding the Democrats’ reservations over the existing labour laws in Oman, the United States is confident that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that it had signed on January 19 this year in Washington will sail through smoothly in the Congress in the next few months.
Salvadorian women concern on FTA
11-Feb-2006
Workers of the Salvadorian maquilas Friday expressed their concern on the prompt implementation of the Free Trade Area (FTA) with the US.
Businessmen want free trade agreement
11-Feb-2006
Korean business leaders issued a joint statement in support of a Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) yesterday.
Trade minister selling FTA to US and Koreans
11-Feb-2006
Only a few years ago, the idea of signing free-trade deals was new to Koreans. But after signing such agreements with Chile and Singapore, and after the opening of free-trade talks with the United States was announced, free trade is now at the forefront of the national discourse.
US delivers studies on six strategic economic sectors for FTA
9-Feb-2006
United States ambassador to the country, Hans Hertell, handed over to Industry and Commerce minister Francisco Javier Garcia, six studies that focus on strengthening competitiveness of equal number of productive sectors, with a view on the Free Trade Agreement. “I am here to deliver these six studies by sector, which describe new and ample opportunities,” said Hertell.
Bogota Mayor: People Should Settle FTA
9-Feb-2006
Bogota Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzon insisted Thursday on a referendum to finally resolve the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Washington because of its upshots in the Colombian people.
Don’t rush to sign FTA, Nesac warns
9-Feb-2006
The National Economic and Social Advisory Council yesterday warned the prime minister not to let the immediate gains from opening trades with the US blind him to the latent risks of rushing into an economic partnership.
Korea to Have Strong Say at FTA Talks With US: MOFE
9-Feb-2006
Vice Finance and Economy Minister Kwon Tae-shin Thursday said Korea shouldn’t be shy at the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiation table with the United States.
US rejects free trade in Kaesong products
9-Feb-2006 JoongAng Daily
A US official said yesterday that Washington would not consider goods manufactured at an industrial park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong as South Korean products in its free-trade negotiations with Seoul.
S. Korea halts film making to protest US trade deal
9-Feb-2006 Washington Post
South Korea’s movie industry ground to a halt on Wednesday, as dozens of stars and hundreds of film workers protested against a government move to cut protection for the industry to smooth free trade talks with the United States.
US wants more concessions on beef imports: Official
9-Feb-2006 Chosunilbo
The US will push Korea for further negotiations on resuming imports of US beef with parts attached to the bone included, an official with the US Embassy in Korea said Wednesday. This January, the Korean government partly lifted the ban to ease the way for free-trade talks.
Kuwaiti delegation kicks off expert-level trade talks with US counterpart
9-Feb-2006 MENAFN
The Kuwaiti Ambassador praised the level of trade relations between Kuwait and the United States, which is considered Kuwait’s largest trade partner, and expressed Kuwait’s hope that the ongoing trade negotiations would lead to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
‘Secret’ FTA details on the Net
8-Feb-2006
Details of US proposals in free-trade talks with Thailand - perceived by many Thais as “forbidden information” the government has tried to cover up - were recently posted for all to see in cyberspace. Witoon Leanchamroon, director of BioThai, a non-government organisation working for bio-diversity and community rights, said at a press conference yesterday he had been told a group of Americans involved in public health issues had posted a full text of the patent chapter from the Thai-US free trade talks at www.bilaterals.org.
EDITORIAL: Health at stake in free-trade talks
8-Feb-2006 The Nation
For the United States, intellectual property rights represent the single most valuable asset in light of the new reality of information-based economies and where they derive their national wealth. The supremacy of the US as a global power depends on how effective it is in acquiring and maintaining its ownership of knowledge assets.
Draft amendment to patent law a ’sell-out’
8-Feb-2006 Bangkok Post
Opponents of a free trade area (FTA) agreement with the US have lashed out at the government’s proposed amendment of Thai patent law to facilitate the United States’ patenting of drugs and living organisms in Thailand. They fear it would lead to greater control of the country’s resources by American firms.
Stars Fight Losing Battle Against Screen Quota Cut
7-Feb-2006
One of Asia’s best known movie stars stood in front of the National Assembly in Yoido, Seoul, holding a picket which read: ``Be a friend of the screen quota system and we will flap Taegukgi in the world.’’
Work for a win-win agreement
7-Feb-2006
The competition over "mating" between countries and regions through free trade agreements is unusual. One hundred and twenty free trade agreements have been entered to date - 95 of them in the past five years. Fifteen agreements were reached last year and 37 are currently underway. Immediately after he came into office in 2001, US President George W. Bush pushed to enter free trade agreements, saying the United States was behind the European Union in making such pacts.
FTA to ease NK nuclear concern
7-Feb-2006
A free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the United States would help ease concerns over North Korea’s nuclear weapons development, a high-ranking official said Tuesday.