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Japan, RP sign trade pact, allowing flow of Filipino nurses
Japan and the Philippines signed a free-trade pact after overcoming the thorny issue of Filipina nurses seeking work in the world’s second-biggest economy.
On the Japan-RP economic pact
The upcoming Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) will bring dubious gain to the local economy while severely limiting government’s policy options to develop domestic industries.
Economic partnership with Japan will not benefit Filipinos
It is contemptible how the Philippine government trades its citizens for export goods that will only push the country to even greater disaster. This is the aim of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to sign with Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi today during the Asia Europe Meeting in Helsinki, Finland.
Bilateral trade pacts not in EU interest - presidency
Bilateral trade deals are not in the interests of anyone, EU President Finland said on Friday, in the first public criticism of European Commission plans to seek one-on-one pacts with Asian countries.
COMESA-EU pact to open up more markets
The Common Market for East and Central African (COMESA) states have begun fresh negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) in a bid to expand domestic markets through strategic trade liberalisation.
Philippines and Japan sign FTA Accord - For Arroyo, the future of Filipinos is cheap - Migrante-Japan
For Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the future of the Filipino people has a very cheap price. So cheap that she has opted to sell it to Japan by further opening up the local economy in exchange for the annual deployment of 400-500 caregivers and nurses to Japan.
Kituyi challenges COMESA on Customs Union
Trade and Industry Minister Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi has asked the COMESA ministerial taskforce to hasten implementation of the regional customs union to achieve the free trading within member-countries.
Political issues weigh on trade talks
At issue are commodities as varied as rice, apparel and automobiles, as well as lucrative new markets in banking and other financial services, with potentially billions of dollars in commerce at stake. But for several countries negotiating trade pacts with the US, the outcome may have less to do with economics than with American election-year politics.
High noon for Korea’s NAFTA
Underneath the radar of the mainstream media, the US and South Korea are negotiating a “free trade agreement” that, if signed, will be the largest such agreement since NAFTA was passed in 1994. Hence, it’s a massive issue for US and Korean workers, and has been arousing massive opposition.
South Africa: Trade Beat
After a lull in the first half of the year, there appears to be movement on various fronts of SA’s trade agenda.
Pakistan, Mauritius to sign PTA in November
Pakistan and Mauritius signed the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), Rule of Origin and Customs Cooperation agreements during the 5th session of their Joint Working Group on PTA to be held in Islamabad in November this year.
Korean filmmakers take center stage to bash trade talks
Fresh from acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival for creating a South Korean "Jaws," the director Bong Joon Ho staged a lone protest outside the Culture Ministry in Seoul, shouting slogans and raising a red placard.
SADC’s free trade protocol difficult: researcher
Brendan Vicas, a senior researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue, has warned that SADC’s free trade protocol will be difficult to implement. SADC member states have again been urged to renounce their membership of other regional economic groupings.
All FTAs are not created equal
Thai exporters and importers have benefited from the free-trade agreements with Australia and India but reaped fewer benefits from Asean’s FTA with China, according to a survey by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).
No Korean auto pact: Ontario
The Ontario government is demanding that Ottawa exclude the auto sector from free trade talks with Korea because of potential harm to the industry.
Official warns DR-CAFTA could displace thousands of local dairy farmers
Approximately 58,000 small and medium-size milk cattle owners of 10 or less milk cows would be displaced from the Dominican market as the DR-CAFTA trade accord is implemented with Central America and the United States, according to Agriculture Planning deputy minister.
Japan, India to start EPA talks: official
Japan expects to gain agreement from India by the end of this year to start talks on a bilateral economic partnership agreement, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.
Medical workers may be losers in FTA
Philippine officials may be upbeat about finalizing the bilateral free-trade agreement with Japan this weekend, but there is some concern that the country’s medical workers will be the losers in the deal.
Korean FTA negotiator under pressure
It was 9:00 pm local time on the second day of the third round of Korea-US FTA talks.
Seattle protests against US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (PSL)
Two major coalitions have formed to oppose the KORUS FTA and organize protest activities during the negotiations: the Korean Alliance Against Korea-US FTA (KoA), based in South Korea, and Korean Americans Against War And Neoliberalism (KAWAN), based in the United States.