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Korea sees progress in FTA talks with EFTA
5-Jun-2005
Korea made progress in talks for inking a free trade agreement with the four countries of the European Free Trade Association, the government said yesterday.
Gulf Arab states exclude US from collective trade agreements
5-Jun-2005 AFP
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have agreed to exclude the United States from collective trade agreements, allowing members to strike bilateral free trade deals with Washington, the Kuwaiti foreign minister said.
P4 Economic Partnership Agreement - key outcomes
5-Jun-2005 Scoop
Press release from NZ government outlining key features of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.
China keen for wide trade deal
5-Jun-2005 New Zealand Herald
China’s decision to accelerate free trade talks with New Zealand will deliver Prime Minister Helen Clark a huge electoral "plum" if a deal is cemented before September.
Indo-Brazil business is booming, set to explode
5-Jun-2005 Indian Express
The Government of India has identified Brazil as strategic partner in Latin America and is strengthening relations and expanding cooperation.
Korea urges Japan to open up
5-Jun-2005 Asia Times
Japan needs to allow South Korean products greater access to its agricultural and fisheries markets in an effort to advance stalled bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) talks, South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong said on Friday.
Bangladesh to propose FTA with Malaysia
5-Jun-2005 Daily Star
Bangladesh will propose a Free Trade Agreement with Malaysia in Bangladesh-Malaysia Joint Commission meeting to be held on June 6-7, after a break of 10 years.
Thaksin asks India to speed up FTA deal
4-Jun-2005
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stressed speeding up the process of finalising the Free Trade Area agreement between Thailand and India during his one-day working visit to the Indian capital on Friday.
FTA delay hits garment industry - Bahrain
4-Jun-2005
Bahrain’s beleaguered garment industry will face additional pressure from a move being presently considered by the American government to sign trade agreements with 16 countries that will allow major garment industry hubs such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to move more finished garments to US buyers with reduced or no customs duties.
’FTA misusers will be punished’
4-Jun-2005
The Centre on Saturday warned that any misuse of the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) would lead to criminal prosecution of those involved in such practice.
The rise and rise of Asian trade
4-Jun-2005 Business Times
A mammoth regional grouping involving Asean and other countries and groups is in the works.
Pacific Island nations seek closer economic ties with NZ, Australia
4-Jun-2005 Angola Press
Pacific Islands Forum countries have decided it is now time to move beyond their existing SPARTECA agreement with Australia and New Zealand, according to reports from Nadi, Fiji, on Friday.
Will CAFTA be a boon to farmers and the food industry? NAFTA’s failed promises are doomed to be repeated
3-Jun-2005 Economic Policy Institute
Promoters of the proposed Dominican Republic/Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have asserted that it will provide significant benefits to the U.S. economy, especially to the agricultural sector. Similar promises were made in the debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992 and 1993. However, since that time NAFTA has failed to live up to these promises, and similar promises made for CAFTA are even less likely to be fulfilled.
Media info note: Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement
3-Jun-2005 Singapore FTAs
On 3 Jun 05, the trade ministers of Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore announced the substantive conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (“Trans-Pacific SEP”) on the sidelines of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) meeting in Jeju (Korea).
S’pore, Brunei, Chile, NZ sign trans-Pacific trade pact
3-Jun-2005 Channel News Asia
New Zealand, Brunei, Chile and Singapore announced a trans-Pacific free trade pact to improve market access between the countries.
Are corporations hog-tying conservation groups in CAFTA fight?
3-Jun-2005 Grist
Missing from the fight against CAFTA is an elite subset of the environmental movement: the international biodiversity conservation organizations. Not one of the four major groups in this field — Conservation International, the World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and the Wildlife Conservation Society — has demonstrated the courage to oppose CAFTA, despite ample opportunity over the past year.
Civil society in revolt against EU-ACP trade agreements
2-Jun-2005 AllAfrica.com
African civil society organizations supported by a number of major European NGOs have moved into clear confrontation with the European Commission on the issue of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA). They say these deals will wreck domestic African agriculture and industry and are warning African politicians not to go along with them.
Korea, Canada agree to launch FTA talks this year
2-Jun-2005 Korea Times
Korea will start free trade agreement negotiations with Canada within this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Wednesday.
Declaración de Dili: 10 años de OMC son suficientes! Por la defensa de la soberanía y la expulsión de la OMC
2-Jun-2005
Estamos afrontando varios impactos negativos tanto de la OMC como de los TLC. Por ejemplo, Tailandia, conocida como el país con mayor exportación de arroz; sus campesinos están sufriendo muchísimo y están perdiendo la tierra así como las semillas locales.
Dili Declaration: Ten years of WTO is enough! Defense sovereignty and expelling WTO
2-Jun-2005
We are facing severe negative impact of both WTO and FTA. For instance, Thailand known as the biggest rice exporting country but Thai peasant has been suffering in huge amount of debt and losing the land as well as the local seeds.