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2-Dec-2008
Regional stakeholders in the energy industry meeting in Tanzania have called for cooperation, integration and pooling of resources in the energy sector as the only way of dealing with energy shortages in southern Africa.
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2-Dec-2008
Trade sector advocacy bodies such as the Ghana Trade Livelihood Coalition and Actionaid Ghana as well as some civil society groups have renewed their call on government not to sign the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union.
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2-Dec-2008
Global euphoria over the election of Barack Obama as US President George Bush’s successor has been tempered somewhat by the realisation that the Democrats have not historically been overly keen on free trade.
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2-Dec-2008
Even as uncertainty prevails over the WTO’s Doha Round negotiations with countries hardening their stance against opening up their markets due to the financial crisis and demand slowdown, India’s plan to boost its global trade ties with a slew of free trade agreements (FTA) is losing momentum, either due to major differences or political volatility.
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2-Dec-2008
Syrian and European officials are expecting to initial a second phase of the Syrian-EU Partnership Agreement, which has been on-hold due to political tension since 2004, before the Christmas holidays.
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2-Dec-2008
On a daily basis we are exposed to a myriad of acronyms. A large number of these refer to some form of regional economic integration such as CMA, COMESA, FTA, IDZ, SACU and SADC, to name a few.
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2-Dec-2008
Costa Rica and Singapore on Tuesday announced their intent to start talks on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
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2-Dec-2008
Financial Express
A group of Indian trade unionists, farmers, fishworkers and intelligentsia have criticised the secret negotiation which are underway between India and the European Union to strike a free trade agreement (FTA). They have demanded a halt to the ongoing negotiations till transparency is achieved in the process.
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2-Dec-2008
Economic Times
There is an outcry over the proposed India-EU free trade agreement, the contents of which are being ‘secretly’ negotiated by the two governments. Last week, an outfit called Forum on FTAs—a coalition of over 75 organisations including trade unions, farmer and fishermen groups and other civil society organisations—demanded that the talks be halted immediately.
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1-Dec-2008
The size of the domestic market has long been a thorn in the flesh for local businesses.
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30-Nov-2008
The seven-member regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is set to become a free trade area.
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30-Nov-2008
As the December 2007 deadline was approaching, the European Commission realised that it would not get what it badly wanted: to close a deal with all African regions on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) - basically free-trade pacts.
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30-Nov-2008
There are growing concerns, regionwide, that the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) project may be in serious danger of not being realised as planned for 2015. It is currently on a slow march.
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30-Nov-2008
The Lee government seems to have come to realize, albeit belatedly, that its attempted push for early enforcement of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) was a non-starter from the beginning. The FTA was a top priority for President Lee Myung-bak, who believed it would help turn around the nation’s declining economy.
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30-Nov-2008
IPS
The inability of the government to function lessens the prospect of Thailand failing to get parliament’s approval of trade deals vital for ASEAN’s economic agenda. The country needs to get the legislature’s backing for 30 agreements, including an ASEAN-India free trade agreement and an ASEAN-South Korea free trade agreement.
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29-Nov-2008
Local skilled workers will have a chance next year to try their luck in New Zealand, which has agreed to open up to Indonesian workers as part of a free trade agreement (FTA).
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29-Nov-2008
Free-trade critics picked up more than two dozen House seats and at least six Senate seats in the Nov. 4 election, a shift that could further endanger proposed free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
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29-Nov-2008
As was anticipated Mercosur senior members Argentina and Brazil proposed Friday an increase of the common external tariff, (AEC) for certain products, and as was expected junior members Uruguay and Paraguay rejected the idea.
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29-Nov-2008
South Korea and the European Union will resume their negotiations in Vienna Dec. 15 - 17 to finalize their free trade agreement talks, Yonhap News reported Saturday, quoting an unnamed government official.
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29-Nov-2008
Taiwan News
Two influential American senators have written to Republic of China President Ma Ying-jeou expressing "deep concern" about what they describe as "continued Taiwanese barriers to US agricultural products."
Taiwan allows only imports of US boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age because of concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease.
