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Japan and Indonesia resume FTA talks
12-Oct-2005 Jakarta Post
Japan and Indonesia resumed free trade agreement (FTA) talks in Tokyo Tuesday and hope to conclude an agreement within two years, government officials said.
Likely costs of Euro-Med free trade area
11-Oct-2005 Times of Malta
The proposed Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EMFTA), due to be established in 2010, might only generate slight net gains in regional economic welfare, but significant social and environmental costs in the Arab nations and Turkey, as well as extensive dislocations in south European agriculture.
Kuwaitis quietly breach a taboo: easing hostility toward Israel
11-Oct-2005 New York Times
Reports have circulated that Kuwait will lift its embargo on Israel, but they remain unconfirmed. The Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas noted that Kuwait had not yet signed a free-trade agreement with the United States. Such an agreement would not permit a trade embargo on Israel.
India-Brazil-South Africa FTA distinct possibility: Govt
11-Oct-2005 NewIndPress
Terming an India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Free Trade Agreement as a “distinct possibility”, the Indian government said it is looking at other ways of enhancing trade relationship with the two countries.
BIMSTEC trade meeting begins in Dhaka with focus on FTA
10-Oct-2005 Mizzima News
The Eighth BIMSTEC Trade Negotiation Committee meeting began in Dhaka today with the aim of developing a free trade agreement between member countries.
China FTA to boost wool sales: report
10-Oct-2005 The Age
Australian wool producers would reap a $780 million windfall if barriers to trade with China were ripped down, a new report has found.
President pitches for FTA with Honduras
10-Oct-2005 Taiwan News
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian made a pitch for the signing of a free trade agreement with Honduras during a state banquet host by him for visiting Honduras President Ricardo Maduro yesterday.
US hopes to conclude FTA with M’sia by June ’07
10-Oct-2005 Edge Daily
The United States hopes to conclude any possible Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Malaysia by June 2007, said Assistant US Trade Representative for Southeast Asia and Pacific Affairs Barbara Weisel.
Specter of failure haunts WTO trade talks
10-Oct-2005 Taipei Times
"The consequences of failure would be an even further switch to [bi-lateral] Free Trade Agreements [FTAs] and long-term weakness for multilateral trade. Trade would become more discriminatory," said Razeen Sally, visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Israel ties ruled out
10-Oct-2005 Gulf Daily News
The decision to lift boycott of Israel in line with the US FTA does not entail any economic, cultural, political, diplomatic or any other form of normalisation, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister said.
ACP negotiators meet in London
10-Oct-2005 Jamaica Observer
Chief negotiators from the six Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions that are fashioning the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union met in London last week to compare notes and review strategies, and emerged saying that they had a better understanding of the way forward.
US expects FTA with Bahrain to benefit Middle East
9-Oct-2005 Gulf News
A senior US trade official has dismissed concerns by the Senate Labor Advisory Committee, saying that "the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions General Secretary has publicly hailed Bahrain as showing the way for the region" and "the disciplines and consultative mechanism in the FTA will play a major role in further improving the labour situation in Bahrain."
Hundreds rally against lifting ban
9-Oct-2005 Gulf Daily News
Hundreds of people turned up at two separate sites to demonstrate against Bahrain’s lifting of a boycott of Israeli goods yesterday
Ukraine to start free-trade talks with EU next year
9-Oct-2005 Bloomberg
Ukraine expects to win market-economy status from the European Union in December and plans to start negotiating a free-trade regime with the bloc early next year, Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said.
Thai FTA hits rules of origin roadblock
7-Oct-2005 Economic Times
The much-publicised Thai FTA seems to be stuck in first gear. According to sources in the auto industry, it is stuck over the rules of origin issue, which has been a contentious issue right from the beginning.
Chile next in line for FTA
7-Oct-2005 The Nation
Thailand and Chile have agreed to conduct a joint study on a potential free-trade agreement (FTA) in order to establish bilateral access to regional markets.
RP pushes for car-tariff clause in Japan talks
7-Oct-2005 ABS-CBN
The Philippines will push for a provision in a planned free-trade deal with Japan that would allow renegotiation on motor vehicle tariffs by 2009.
India mulling FTA with Australia: Kamal Nath
5-Oct-2005 India Infoline News
India is exploring the possibility of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Australia, of which a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would be a component, Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, said during discussions on Tuesday with Dr. Geoff Gallop, Premier of Western Australia.
Bahrain: Of reshuffles & FTAs
5-Oct-2005 Oxford Business Group
The new ministers installed in Bahrain’s latest cabinet reshuffle inherit positions in a country that is currently breaking Arab world records in a number of sectors. With the country ahead in attracting foreign investment, it is also moving forwards in signing foreign trade pacts, as debates in the US appeared to move Bahrain closer still to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
FT: Washington seals trade agreement with Oman
5-Oct-2005 Financial Times
The US and Oman said on Monday they had concluded talks on a free trade agreement, the fifth deal completed in the Middle East by the US as part of an effort to build a web of economic ties in the region over the next decade.