19-Feb-2009
SANA
Minister of Economy and Trade Amer Hosni Lutfi underlined Tuesday that Syria is interested in signing the Syrian-European Association Agreement and joining the World Trade Organization because this will help accelerate the economic reform program in the country.
19-Feb-2009
9News
Australia and Indonesia are tipped to give the green light to talks on a free trade deal as ministers from both countries gather in Sydney to consider ways to enhance already strong ties.
19-Feb-2009
Xinhua
South Korea and the European Union (EU) agreed to delay their upcoming free trade talks by two to three weeks, South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said Wednesday.
19-Feb-2009
Live Mint
The unexpected setback to exports and the associated problem of domestic unemployment may yet spike the government’s plans to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a powerful trade block of 10 countries.
19-Feb-2009
Semana
Interview with Steven Pearlstein, business columnist from the Washington Post and winner of a Pulitzer Prize for having predicted the economic crisis
19-Feb-2009
IP Watch
Efforts by the European Union to insert strong provisions on pharmaceutical patents in free trade agreements it is negotiating with India, Colombia, Peru and ASEAN could imperil access to medicines in developing countries, global public health activists have alleged.
19-Feb-2009
ICTSD
EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton visited several nations in Southern Africa last week, where she held talks with key governmental leaders. Although the general purpose of the trip was to promote bilateral and regional trade relations, Ashton also hoped to make progress on a potential Economic Partnership Agreement, or EPA, between members of the South African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union.
19-Feb-2009
QDND
Japan is intensifying the import of tuna and various kinds of fish from Vietnam. Since other aquiculture export markets are drying up, many Vietnamese businesses are shifting the focus onto Japan.
18-Feb-2009
This Day
Switzerland-based intergovernmental organisation, South Centre, has warned Nigeria and other African nations that the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) being proposed by the European Union (EU) will eliminate the capacity of African nations to industrialise within five to 10 years of signing the agreement.
18-Feb-2009
COHA
Two key figures in Chinese politics embarked on a tour of Latin American countries on February 9, in a sign that the Asian superpower is intent on consolidating its already substantial stake in the region.
18-Feb-2009
PWW
Given the evaporation of 533,000 American jobs last November, the largest downturn in thirty-four years and the prospects for even greater losses, it is vital that we have a public discourse on the cost of free trade and its twin — runaway corporations.
18-Feb-2009
EU Observer
The EU intends to move ahead with a free-trade agreement currently being negotiated with South Korea despite delays and grumbles from the European car industry.
18-Feb-2009
Semana
The FTA will not be negotiated taking the three Latin American countries as a block. The new format designed for the negotiations is an unique multi party agreement in which each country’s particular interests will be taken into consideration regarding specific products, but all framed within the same agreement.
17-Feb-2009
A European Commission’s experts team led by Director Ms Ewa Synowiec from Directorate General for Trade will carry out a fact-finding mission to Yerevan on 18-19 February. This mission will help in mapping out a preparatory process for possible future negotiations of an ambitious free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and Armenia.
17-Feb-2009
The right-wing Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) government is now preparing to literally give away the power to make or break Taiwan’s economy and officially surrender Taiwan’s sovereignty to the hostile People’s Republic of China.
17-Feb-2009
Visiting European Union (EU) Commissioner for External Affairs and Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner said here Monday that a long-delayed partnership agreement between the EU and Syria would be approved soon.
17-Feb-2009
Trade Minister Tim Groser departs today for India and Thailand where he will sign the trade deal with the Asean group of nations.
16-Feb-2009
WORC
Representatives of consumer groups and livestock producer organizations from Canada, Mexico, and the United States today called on leaders to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and address concentration in livestock markets.s.
15-Feb-2009
The Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) would be put to a test under the current global financial turmoil and recession.
15-Feb-2009
The European Union (EU) will not rush negotiations for a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with the Philippines as it is bent on reaching a “quality” agreement.
