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Does investment always foster development? The effects of BITs on developing countries
BITs are generally crafted as political documents and quite often contain no mention of development. Western countries prefer to prioritize investment. If a development objective is involved, it is often generalized to the exclusion of any role for government.
Uruguay marches on free trade scam
Hundreds of Uruguayan workers marched July 18 in front of the Economy Ministry in this capital to reject signing of a US free trade treaty.
Japanese Cabinet OKs Chile trade pact
Japan’s Cabinet approved a bilateral free trade pact with Chile on Friday, an official said.
Colombia sees free-trade deal with Chile signed on Nov 27
Colombia and Chile will sign a free-trade agreement on Nov. 27 instead of in January as originally announced because negotiations are going faster than expected, President Alvaro Uribe said in New York on Thursday.
Mercosur, EU to resume trade talks in October
South America’s Mercosur bloc will resume negotiations with the European Union on a free trade deal in late October, following the suspension of talks last year, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Uruguayan workers strike for pay hikes, against U.S. trade deal
Uruguay Labor groups demanding higher wages and an end to Uruguayan efforts for a trade deal with Washington walked off the job for four hours on Thursday, though public transport ran normally and shops and offices stayed open.
S. Korean trade deal will cost jobs: CAW
A free-trade deal Ottawa is negotiating with South Korea could cost Canada up to 33,000 jobs — including 4,000 in the auto industry — this country’s largest private sector union warned yesterday.
Japan, Persian Gulf nations hold first meeting to discuss free trade deal
Japan and six Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia on Thursday began the first round of talks on a free trade agreement, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said.
Smelters return home from Lanka
A majority of Indian secondary copper smelters based in Sri Lanka are winding up their operations in that country because of economic problem as well as threat perception over local environmental issues.
Political parties flip-flop over US-SK FTA
Regarding the proposed South Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA), the true "stance" of the nation’s two main political parties seems to be, "if it succeeds, we are for it. If it fails, we are against it".
International court rules in favor of Hungary in Telenor case
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has ruled in favor of the State of Hungary in a case brought against it by Norwegian telco Telenor, business daily Világgazdaság reported on Monday.
Japan, Chile reach basic agreement on free trade
Japan and Chile have agreed on a bilateral free trade pact, a Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.
Japan trade talks set to start
The Federal Government has flagged the possibility of negotiations for a free trade agreement with Japan, beginning in December.
The Philippine struggle against neoliberal globalization
A PowerPoint file presented at the FTA Workshop in Bangkok on July 28, 2006.
Trade agreements for the future, not the past
Politicians tend to be very backward looking people. They are usually the last to notice important trends and to recognize the ways in which the world is changing. Perhaps this is why many politicians in South Korea place such a high priority on a new trade agreement with the United States.
Rough trade: the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement
The Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), signed 10 years ago, has some discouraging lessons to offer would-be bilateralists. And lesson No. 1 would be: Don’t expect such agreements to boost trade.
US expresses support for transatlantic free trade zone
Susan Schwab, US trade representative, on Wednesday welcomed the news that Germany was considering reviving plans for a transatlantic single market, saying these were unlikely to clash with attempts to relaunch the Doha round of multilateral trade talks.
EU-US free trade agreement mooted in Berlin
Centre-right members of the German government are in favour of closer economic ties between the EU and the US, possibly resulting in a free trade agreement.
US still hopeful of free trade agreement
The impact of Thailand’s coup on negotiations on a free trade agreement with the United States wasn’t immediately clear, but Washington still hoped to secure a pact when democracy is restored, the top US trade official said on Wednesday.
US likely to want autos out of trade deal: sources
The US is likely to push for the exclusion of its automobile industry from the ongoing negotiations on a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea, trade sources said.