30-Mar-2007
‘Jamu’ or medicinal herb tonic producers in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region are making efforts to standardize their commodities in the face of the advent of the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA), an Indonesian jamu businessman said.
30-Mar-2007
The Joint Private-Sector Committee has supported the government’s decision to sign the Japan and Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA), saying Thailand would lose a market share in Japan if the signing was cancelled or postponed.
30-Mar-2007
Pakistan and Thailand will establish a joint bank and trade centre to promote bilateral trade and investment, said Punjab Trade & Investment minister here Friday.
30-Mar-2007
Trade talks between the United States and South Korea stumbled on Friday just hours before a deadline, with the White House saying they could fail.
30-Mar-2007
Trade within South Asia can be more than doubled if appropriate regional agreements on roads, rail, air, and shipping are put in place. A comprehensive report prepared by the World Bank ahead of the Saarc Heads of State Summit in New Delhi on April 3 to 4 has suggested that the instrumentality of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) be deployed not in promoting South Asia Free Trade Agreement (Safta) but project by project cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
30-Mar-2007
Australia’s free trade agreement talks with China concluded their eighth round in Beijing with little progress, despite many "technically useful" discussions.
30-Mar-2007
The troubled military-appointed government in Thailand has said that it will go ahead with the signing of a free-trade deal with Japan on April 3rd. Although welcomed by some local sectors, the move risks further damaging the interim government’s credibility, as concerns have been raised over whether the government has overstepped its authority and also that it has failed to follow up on its promise to hold public hearings on the issue.
30-Mar-2007
Hankyoreh
Looking at what has been negotiated, it is clear the process is going to end in a way where Korea loses if things turn out well and loses even more if things don’t turn out well.
30-Mar-2007
Korea Times
The Korean government is moving to soothe the anger of farmers and others who will be affected by a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States by committing a package of measures aimed at supporting them.
30-Mar-2007
Moneyweb
Finstone Ltd SA, a foreign mining company based in Luxembourg, is suing the South African government for an alleged expropriation of its mineral rights. Finstone is a holding company in control of three South African granite producing operations i.e. Marlin, Red Graniti and Kelgran. The real challenge posed by this legal action is that the abovementioned investors find the black economic empowerment programme is in violation of the bilateral treaties signed with South Africa by both Luxembourg and Italy.
30-Mar-2007
Yonhap
Protests against free trade talks between South Korea and the United States continue Friday as negotiators make a last-ditch effort to find ways to conclude a deal before a weekend deadline. The Korean Alliance Against the Korea-US FTA plans to hold an evening candlelight protest in downtown Seoul with more than 10,000 workers, farmers and activists taking part.
30-Mar-2007
Chosun Ilbo
North Korea has urged South Koreans to fight against Seoul’s free trade agreement with the US, condemning it as a “yoke of subordination.”
30-Mar-2007
The US secretary of agriculture urged South Korea to be "rational and predictable" in dealing with trade issues, a stern message that came as the two countries get ready to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA).
30-Mar-2007
The fight for land and territory and opposition to neoliberalism and free trade treaties (FTAs) with the United States are the main issues at the Indigenous People’s Summit currently meeting in Iximché, Guatemala.
29-Mar-2007
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Wednesday that he will make the final decision on whether to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States on returning home Friday from his weeklong trip to the Middle East.
29-Mar-2007
The Administrative Court yesterday turned down a petition by a group of Thai non-government groups to block a free-trade deal with Japan, saying the issue was beyond its jurisdiction.
29-Mar-2007
Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has said Japan and Thailand will sign a free-trade agreement next week during his visit.
29-Mar-2007
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday held a telephone conversation and confirmed their political will to conclude a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) deal, Roh’s spokesman Yoon Seung-yong said.
29-Mar-2007
Three political leaders joined the "wave of hunger strikes" in a bid to stop the ongoing negotiations on the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. Those include former Justice Minister Chun Jung-bae, former Uri Party Chairman Kim Geun-tae and former member of the conservative opposition Grand National Party Im Jong-in.
