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18-Apr-2006
Japan Times
Trade minister Toshihiro Nikai’s announcement earlier this month that Japan plans to start talks with 15 other nations in 2008 to create an Asia-Oceania free-trade zone took many by surprise — not only experts but also those within government — sparking speculation about the ministry’s true intentions.
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18-Apr-2006
Asia Pulse
The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), an influential business entity, expressed strong support for the signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Taiwan.
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18-Apr-2006
MCOT
Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak on Monday revealed that he had instructed postponement of negotiations for the proposed free trade area (FTA) agreement between the United States and Thailand until the new government is formed.
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18-Apr-2006
CNN-IBN
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka is costing Indian vanaspati-makers a fortune. With the Sri Lankan vanaspati flooding the Indian market, factories are shutting down, rendering hundreds of people jobless.
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17-Apr-2006
Asia Pulse
South Korea’s trade minister warned Monday that the upcoming negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States could collapse if the deal harms South Korean national interests.
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17-Apr-2006
IHT
The South Korean government may offer more incentives for farmers and their families in an attempt to curb protests over its negotiations with the United States for a free-trade agreement, South Korea’s chief negotiator said Monday.
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17-Apr-2006
Latin Business Chronicle
The European Union posted strong trade growth with Latin America last year, led by Venezuela and Mexico. But future EU relations with the region will depend on expanding free trade agreements.
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17-Apr-2006
Reuters
The United States hopes to agree a road-map with southern Africa on reaching a trade pact this week but will not budge on key issues that have previously stalled talks, a top official said on Monday.
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17-Apr-2006
JPEPA Research Project
Working draft of the agreement as of 21 April 2003
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17-Apr-2006
Bangkok Post
Thailand’s National Economic and Social Advisory Council has urged the government to delay free trade negotiations with the US on financial services and take intellectual property rights and agriculture liberalisation off the agenda.
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17-Apr-2006
FT
New legislation designed to increase the state’s share of windfall oil revenues by some $600m a year is set to derail Ecuador’s plans to negotiate a trade deal with the US, according to government officials.
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17-Apr-2006
Korea Times
South Korea is poised to include a partial opening of the education market in its coming talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States. The US is calling for the Korean government to open the college education market involving graduate schools and the pre-school education market involving kindergartens.
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17-Apr-2006
Chosun Ilbo
A massive protest against a planned free trade agreement between Korea and the U.S. brought some 8,000 trade unionists, farmers, students and actors from 100 groups to Daehagno, downtown Seoul on Sunday.
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16-Apr-2006
Daily Times
The United States is reluctant to give increased market access for textile to Pakistan and has conveyed that any new trading arrangement that could be finalized between the two countries would be minus textile, a senior official told the Daily Times on Saturday.
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16-Apr-2006
Xinhua
South Korean chief negotiator for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States Kim Jong-hoon said Saturday that the public-sectors services would be excluded from the FTA talks.
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16-Apr-2006
ACN
The Bolivian representative to an anti-“free trade” conference underway in Havana, proposed a “People’s Trade Agreement” - a joint initiative between the government and social movements in that South American country.
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16-Apr-2006
Xinhua
The Ecuadorian government hopes to have the next round of FTA negotiations on May 8 in Washington — if it manages to pass an amendment bill to the Hydrocarbons Law. But the legislation is being staunchly opposed by private oil firms.
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15-Apr-2006
This Day
Oxfam yesterday urged West African nations not to mortgage their future by signing on to the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) being negotiated with the European Union.
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14-Apr-2006
Daily Times
Pakistan and United States on Thursday agreed to conclude Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) as early as possible.
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14-Apr-2006
A presidential senior secretary strongly defended Korea’s move to sign a free trade deal with the United States by saying that the deal, if successfully concluded, would pull the nation into the ranks of advanced countries.
