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Kagame says Africans should make AFCFTA work for them
2-Mar-2023 KT Press
President Paul Kagame has called on African leaders to fully utilize the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as the best tool for breaking the mentality of depending on and producing for others to benefit.
Rigging the rules: How Big Tech uses stealth “trade” agreements and how we can stop them
2-Mar-2023 Third World Network
Efforts to curb the ruinous business practices of the Big Tech corporations are at risk of being impeded by “digital trade” rules negotiated in international trade pacts. It is time to overturn this anti-regulatory agenda in favour of a governance model that prioritizes digital industrialization and data as a public good.
Costa Rica and Ecuador sign trade agreement
2-Mar-2023 Macau Business
The deal focuses on goods exports, plus facilitating discussions on best practices for gender-related issues in trade, workers’ rights, environmentalism and corporate responsibility.
Ecuador-Canada Free Trade Agreement: a new attack on communities, Indigenous peoples, and the environment
2-Mar-2023 Mining Watch
A Free Trade Agreement between Ecuador and Canada is not in the interests of Indigenous peoples, territories or the environment. The FTA will only be another instrument of corporate power, wielded by the national elites to deepen the rationale for devastation.
Civil societies call on European Parliament to pressure Vietnam on human rights
2-Mar-2023 Radio Free Asia
Civil groups urged the European Parliament to step up pressure on Vietnam to improve its dismal human and labor rights records during a review of the implementation of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.
Ministry preps mini-FTA with Shenzhen
2-Mar-2023 Bangkok Post
The Thailand Commerce Ministry clinched a memorandum of understanding to form a deeper trade partnership through a mini-free trade agreement (mini-FTA) with Shenzhen in China.
Mercosur files
1-Mar-2023 Friends of the Earth Europe
Despite the ongoing devastation, and with the Amazon likely at an irreversible environmental tipping point, the European Union continues to push for a free trade agreement with Mercosur which would increase the pressure on the region.
Commission trade chief: EU cannot only trade with ‘like-minded countries’
1-Mar-2023 Euractiv
Europe must strengthen its network of free trade agreements beyond liberal democracies, Sabine Weyand, head of the European Commission’s trade unit said.
Formal close of UAE CEPA talks set for March
28-Feb-2023 The Phnom Penh Post
The three rounds of formal negotiations were respectively held on October 24-25 in Abu Dhabi, December 19-21 in Phnom Penh, and February 20-22 in Dubai.
A free trade agreement between South Korea and the GCC
28-Feb-2023 Energy News
South Korea is continuing negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council to enhance its energy security and improve the economics of importing sour crude from the Middle East.
GCC to appoint chief negotiator next month for trade talks with India – report
28-Feb-2023 Zawya
The intent of a free trade deal has been announced and meetings will start soon, says a source.
Factbox: Britain’s new Brexit trade deal - what has been agreed?
28-Feb-2023 Reuters
Britain and the European Union announced a new deal for post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland in a bid to end a row that has overshadowed their ties since Brexit.
India’s FTA negotiations on track; next round in March
28-Feb-2023 Fortune India
India is set to continue its efforts to negotiate with key trade partners for potential free trade agreements (FTA). Two major negotiations are scheduled for next month — the fourth round of India-EU FTA negotiations from March 13-17, 2023, and the eighth round of India-UK FTA negotiations, from March 20-24.
Ethiopia among AfCFTA $1bln adjustment fund recipients
28-Feb-2023 The Reporter
Ethiopia is one of the African countries that will benefit from Afrexim Bank’s USD one billion package to recoup any losses incurred as a result of the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Jakarta wants PTA with Dhaka by April
28-Feb-2023 Dhaka Tribune
Jakarta is keen on signing a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Dhaka by April this year. Sources said that the Indonesian Embassy in Dhaka has informed the Foreign Ministry regarding the issue.
Emerging issues in the IPEF trade negotiations: A critical summary
28-Feb-2023 Ibon International
The US is trying to present IPEF as a rethinking of the aggressive trade liberalisation model it championed for the last four decades. At its core, however, IPEF appears to be mainly a geopolitical tool for the US to maintain its hegemony in the Asia-Pacific.
Health CSO statement on Kenya _US STIP
28-Feb-2023 Health CSO statement on Kenya _US STIP
We are part of a think tank that advocates for increased access to essential medicines by ensuring that intellectual property laws and policies do not create unnecessary barriers to access to affordable essential medicines, especially for people living with and affected by HIV and TB.
Macron says the EU-Mercosur deal cannot fly without ‘mirror clauses’
27-Feb-2023 Euractiv
There can be no EU-Mercosur deal without mirror clauses that would force producers from both sides of the world to respect the same environmental and health standards, French President Emmanuel Macron told farmers in Paris this weekend.
Germany’s Scholz committed for Free Trade deal between India, EU
27-Feb-2023 CNBC
The EU and India revived negotiations to forge a free trade agreement last year with the aim of completing talks by the end of 2023.
China pushes for resurrection of EU investment deal
27-Feb-2023 Nikkei Asia
China has stepped up lobbying of European Union decision-makers to revive a planned investment deal in its latest effort to improve ties with the Brussels-based bloc, but big hurdles remain to put the accord back on track.