EU-Asia trade pact in prospect
The European Union is likely to decide by the end of the year whether to launch talks on a comprehensive trade agreement with south-east Asia, its first in Asia, Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, said yesterday.
The EU and the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) yesterday issued a final report on the prospects for a trade deal that made a strong case for such an agreement with benefits for all sides, Mr Mandelson told the Financial Times.
The EU move is seen as a response to a widening web of bilateral deals being negotiated in the region by the US, China, Japan and Korea that threaten to sideline European economic interests.
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``We had a very successful and substantive meeting. You can term it as a turning point for Bimstec,'' Foreign Minister M.
India to launch South Asia free-trade pact
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Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said India would initially cut customs duties by five percent for goods imported from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal after the launch of the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement.
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US, Southeast Asia sign trade, liberalisation pact
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US trade representative Susan Schwab signed the trade and investment framework agreement in Malaysia with the 10 member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean). The can-do spirit of the members of Asean reflects the can-do spirit we are so proud of in the United States, Schwab told reporters after signing the pact. The Tifa with Asean represents an important step forward in the trade relationship
Free trade agreement brings hope to southern Asia
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The free-trade pact is considered to be by far the most important decision taken by the seven-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) during its 20-year existence.
Nearly 23 percent of the world's population lives in the SAARC region which is just three percent of the world's area.
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East Asia summit set sights low amid Japan-China row
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - East Asian nations set expectations low on Tuesday for their first summit, playing down talk of a huge new free-trade bloc as the two biggest members continued a feud over their wartime past.
"I think it's too early to be talking about it," Australian Prime Minister John Howard said when asked about the prospect of a new trade bloc among the 16 nations to be represented at Wednesday's inaugural summit in the Malaysian capital.
"You never know what unfolds but it's far, far too early to be talking about that,"
