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US businessmen back Arroyo reform agenda
19-Sep-2004 inq7money.net
American businessmen have given the thumbs up to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s move to undertake "painful" reforms in solving the fiscal crisis and a projected power crisis, Philippines-US Business Council chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr. said Thursday.
Colombia: 50,000 Indigenous People march for basic rights
19-Sep-2004 IPS
A tandem bicycle with a loudspeaker moves back and forth from one end of the massive indigenous protest march to the other, as the 50,000 demonstrators make their way along the Pan-American highway to the city of Cali in southwestern Colombia.
Thailand-US FTA: A roadmap to negotiations
18-Sep-2004
The politicization of the U.S. trade policy process regarding free trade agreements has created a complex landscape requiring careful navigation by U.S. trading partners. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary U.S. trade policy and of obstacles and opportunities facing Thailand.
Taiwan To Start FTA Talks With Israel: Officials
17-Sep-2004
Taiwan is expected to sign an investment protection pact with Israel and start bilateral negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) soon, Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) officials said Friday.
Mexico and Japan expect to sign trade agreement
17-Sep-2004 NYT
President Vicente Fox of Mexico and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan will sign a free trade agreement Friday that Mexico hopes will attract more investment from Japanese manufacturers and spur exports across the Pacific.
Milking the deal
17-Sep-2004 Foreign Control Watchdog
Fonterra is the main exporter behind the "New Zealand" push for free trade with Thailand
Tariff-free tequila flow from Mexico to Japan under FTA
16-Sep-2004
Mexico’s tequila industry is expecting a sudden surge in shipments to Japan when the tariff of 25.2 yen per liter is completely removed under a Mexico-Japan free-trade pact that takes effect April 1.
FTA With Andean Nations Needs Mechanism to Resolve Investor-State Disputes
16-Sep-2004
The free trade agreement the United States plans to negotiate with the Andean countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru should contain an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, witnesses at a Trade Policy Staff Committee hearing on the Andean FTA said March 17.
USCSI: Statement on the US draft model Bilateral Investment Treaty
16-Sep-2004
In the course of consultations with services industries on the Model BIT, a number of serious concerns have been raised. These relate to (1) the prospective nature of the Model BIT; (2) the breadth of the BIT’s prudential carve-out; (3) the limitations on recourse to investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms in certain cases; and, (4) the dispute settlement process itself.
China May Get MFN Status
16-Sep-2004
This may come as a surprise to the ministry of home affairs. Security concerns of the government’s intelligence agencies notwithstanding, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) is quietly pushing for a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) with China.
Bechtel and GE File Arbitration over Dabhol Power Company
16-Sep-2004
Bechtel Enterprises Holdings, Inc. and GE Structured Finance (GESF) have filed an arbitration action against the Government of India to recover their investments in the Dabhol Power Company (DPC).
Nepal Govt to negotiate with India on BIPA
16-Sep-2004
The government has finally announced to commence negotiations on long-unheeded Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) with India, which the southern neighbour had been pressing for the last five years.
Government in a tizzy as Dabhol defence cracks
16-Sep-2004
The newly-appointed solicitor firm in London, Evershed, has backed out of the Dabhol arbitration case at the last minute, leaving the Union government in a quandary.
G.E., Bechtel file $1.2 b claim against Govt
16-Sep-2004
BECHTEL Enterprises Holdings Inc and GE Structured Finance on Monday said that they have filed an international arbitration claim against the Government to recover their investments in Dabhol Power Company (DPC).
Govt Seeks 60 More Days To File Dabhol Defence
16-Sep-2004
The government of India (GoI) has sought a 60-day extension from the Arbitral Tribunal in London for filing a defence statement after GE blocked the appointment of Evershed as India’s new solicitor firm in the UK.
Australian Bilateral Agreements and Higher Education
16-Sep-2004 NTEU
Australia is a party to a number of bilateral agreements with developing countries in the East Asian-South Pacific region. The agreements fall into two categories: comprehensive bilateral free trade agreements (BFTAs) and bilateral investment agreements (BIAs). Both types of agreements have implications for higher education, though only BFATs expressly deal with education services.
Thaksin pushes Thai-Japan FTA
16-Sep-2004
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he has asked the Japanese government to help develop a Thai-Japan free trade area (FTA) agreement with Thailand agreeing to Japan’s plan to set rice and beef as sensitive products categories.
Talks On Taiwan-Nicaragua FTA To Be Held In Taipei
16-Sep-2004
The first round of talks on a Taiwan-Nicaragua free trade agreement (FTA) will be held in Taipei Sept. 20-24, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) officials said Thursday.
Thailand seen missing FTA deal deadlines
16-Sep-2004
Thailand, the Asian country most aggressive in seeking free trade deals after Singapore, is likely to miss the deadlines for its free trade talks with many nations, including the United States and Japan, according to a senior Thai official.
Ecuador decides: Faced with free trade, free determination of its people
16-Sep-2004 Bolpress
The free trade treaty that the US proposed to Ecuador and other countries in the Continent following the failure of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAAs) and the World Trade Organization negotiations, is not exclusively a trade treaty; it addresses all facets of the economic, political and cultural life of our peoples.