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Articles by language

  • 30-Apr-2007 COHA
    The EU and Mercosur: Can the EU get its foot in the door of Mercosur, Latin America’s most dominant market?
    With US foreign policy heavily focused on Iraq and the WTO Doha Round negotiations all but paralyzed, the European Union seems to be disregarding the wide open door to further regional integration and economic influence in Latin America that could be achieved through a free trade arrangement with Mercosur.
  • 30-Apr-2007 Movimiento Boliviano por la Soberanía y la Integración solidaria de los pueblos: Contra el TLC y el ALCA
    Analysis of Mercosur Summit
    Presidents Néstor Kirchner (Argentina), Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Brasil), Nicanor Duarte (Paraguay) y Tabaré Vázquez (Uruguay) met at the Río de Janeiro summit between 18 & 19 January in order to advance and consolidate the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). The focus was less on institutional strengthening of the block but more on looking for mechanisms to resolve the deep asymmetry in trading relations between nations.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    Japan-UAE joint economic committee set up
    President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed their firm determination to develop bilateral relations between the UAE and Japan at all levels.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    Growing sense that Caribbean-EC negotiations may be in trouble
    A few days ago an influential political friend of the region asked about the current state of the negotiations between the Caribbean and the Europe for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
  • 29-Apr-2007
    EU says West Africa trade talks may stretch to 2008
    The European Commission is pressing West African governments to negotiate a deal on trade before a WTO waiver on current trade perks expires on December 31, but acknowledged on Thursday a short extension may be needed.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    10th round of Korea-Canada FTA talks finished
    Trade delegates from Korea and Canada wrapped up their tenth round of free trade talks in Seoul last Thursday.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    Call to lay down rules for signing treaties
    The draft constitution has failed to fix weaknesses in the state’s endorsement of international treaties, including free trade agreements (FTAs), civic groups and legal experts say. Article 186 regarding the signing of international agreements failed to say that the government must seek parliamentary backing before signing any international pact, they said.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    S Korea free trade deal looms
    New Zealand has taken a big step closer to a free trade agreement with South Korea.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    Abe-Bush statement sets ball rolling on FTA
    The agreement by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President George W. Bush to share information about their countries’ free trade agreement talks with third parties apparently marked a first step toward an eventual FTA between Tokyo and Washington.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    EU concessions to African farmers suspect
    The recent trade concessions by the European Union to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries mean little in real terms, says an international non-governmental organisation.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    Drug dispute could lead to trade trouble
    The Thai government’s showdown with multinational drug companies over compulsory licensing could result in a downgrade on Washington’s watch list of countries with poor intellectual property (IP) rights protection, trade sources say.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    FTAs now substitute for multilateral talks
    I had the opportunity to present a working paper at the 7th Forum for Democracy, Development and Free Trade held at the Qatari capital of Doha last week.
  • 29-Apr-2007
    Lanka seeks more investments from India - Prof Peiris
    Minister of Export Development and Internal Trade Prof. G.L.Peiris inaugurating a program on the Indo Lanka Free Trade Agreement in Kochi said that it is high time that inhibitions and apprehensions about Sri Lanka were shed. Sri Lanka is an ideal investment destination in South Asia. Investing in Sri Lanka would mean better access to the huge European Union market which does not charge duty on over 200 goods from Sri Lanka.
  • 28-Apr-2007
    Opinion: Japan’s aid policy in dire need of revamp
    The second largest economy in the world is in the midst of change and one crucial area it needs to look is its official development assistance programme.
  • 27-Apr-2007
    SAARC’s political will facing test
    The SAARC countries are now striving to set a uniform product standard for the group after years of complaints by the weaker ones among them about non-acceptance of their national certifications of product quality by their stronger counterparts. It has persistently posed as a difficult non-trade barrier that has obstructed bilateral trade.
  • 27-Apr-2007
    Regional churches reject Economic Partnership Agreements
    Churches from Southern and Eastern Africa have called for a review of the proposed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
  • 27-Apr-2007
    South Korea accepts U.S. beef
    For the first time in over three years, South Korea accepted a shipment of U.S. beef Friday. South Korea had rejected three previous shipments of U.S. beef since officially re-opening its market in September of 2006.
  • 27-Apr-2007
    The paradoxes of a “democrat”
    For those who do not know it, it is at the very least paradoxical that it was precisely President Oscar Arias, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and impassioned defender of “democracy,” who attempted to block a citizens’ initiative that would approve the convening of a referendum to decide on the Costa Rican people’s approval or not of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.
  • 27-Apr-2007
    Israeli industrialists’ strategy in the global supply chain
    The aim of this paper is to try to understand the Israeli industrialists’ strategy in the globalization process in the course of the recent years. The new strategy was implemented in the days of the first Intifada (the Palestinian uprising) in the late 80s. At that time voices were heard in the Association of Israeli Industrialists, the strongest organization of Israeli employers, advocating an agreement with the Palestinians which would not oppose the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, as long as the Palestinian economic dependence on Israel is preserved.
  • 27-Apr-2007
    Prospects for fairer trade in the Mediterranean
    In 2010 a free trade area will be established within the so-called Euromed zone that will make matters worse for poorer communities in the Mediterranean region. The renowned academic and activist Tonino Perna anticipates that some four million small farmers with less than three hectares of land and small fishermen will be swamped out of business by big companies with big money.