Peru-US FTA facilitated trade deals with Canada and Singapore
Livinginperu, May 30, 2008

Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Mercedes Aráoz, said today that during the APEC Trade Ministers’ Meeting which begins tomorrow in Arequipa, Peru will suggests Asia-Pacific investors to follow principles of social responsibility. “During the meetings we will discuss business and investment facilitation measures but with a sense of social responsibility. We will holds talks with the APEC business sector so companies will voluntary include some principles of social responsibility”, minister Aráoz said. <<More>>

Poland wants to improve its trade balance with India
The Financial Express, May 29, 2008

Poland is interested in exporting processed and food processing technology, pharmaceuticals, mining equipment, turnkey projects, particularly for sugar plants and power generation with a view to bridge its trade deficit with India. India-Poland bilateral trade is around $ 560 million and the two countries have decided to raise it to at least $ one billion in the next few years. According to Polish Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Adam Szejnfeld, Polish exports to India fell by 20% in the last year, while India's exports to Poland increased by 47%. <<More>>

Eastern Promises
Transitions Online, May 29,2008

Poland and Sweden want to create a new partnership to help the former Soviet states. Nice try, but it already exists. Poland and Sweden have presented their proposal for the so-called Eastern Partnership, a project that would strengthen European Union assistance to former Soviet neighbors. Everybody in the post-Soviet space should wholeheartedly hail the intent of this initiative, for it would be a win-win situation – for Europe and for the people of the beneficiary countries – to have nations like Ukraine or Armenia pulled further into the European orbit. But the Eastern Partnership is an example, too, of an action that comes at a bad time and it may well be that a year from now, the Poles and the Swedes will still have nothing solid in their hands. <<More>>

KU hosts seminar on Indo-Pak trade
Etalaat, May 28, 2008

A two day international seminar, being held at the Kashmir University , on ‘Regional economic integration among south East Asian countries’ inaugurated by Governor and Chancellor, Kashmir University Lt.General S.K. Sinha today in which speakers emphatically stressed the need for economic integration of the south east Asian countries particularly India and Pakistan for the betterment of their citizens. Terming “terrorism the biggest threat to the economic development of the south Asian nations”, Governor, said, that today’s world is driven by economics which has taken precedence over other issues including politics.<<More>>

EU’s investment in India more than China’s
Daily Times, May 25,2008

The flow of European cash into Indian firms surged more than fourfold last year, far surpassing EU investments into Chinese companies. According to Eurostat, foreign direct investment from the 27-nation European Union into India jumped to 10.9 billion euros last year, up from 2.5 billion in 2006. Meanwhile, the flow of EU foreign direct investment (FDI) into China slumped last year to 1.8 billion euros from 6.0 billion euros in 2006 despite intense media interest in the country as an emerging Asian economic power. <<More>>

The EPA conundrum
Jamaica Observer, May 21, 2008

There are strident calls for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), due to be signed by Cariforum in July, to be amended, varied or simply not signed. Any possible renegotiation of the treaty, it is acknowledged, might come at a potentially intolerable cost. The strongest demand for change emanates from within the academic community that has raised certain valid issues, which should have been addressed earlier during the negotiations that officially ended on December 31, 2007. <<More>>

Southern Africa: Whither Regional Integration?
Inter Press Service, May 21, 2008

As a result of the free trade agreements with the European Union, regional integration in Southern Africa is in tatters. The question arises: what kind of integration would engender broad-based development? <<More>>

Australia, India move towards free trade deal
Thaindian, May 20, 2008

The Australia-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) may come through as early as next year with Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean and India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath Tuesday agreeing that the FTA feasibility study report would be presented to the government by the year-end. “We welcome the good momentum established in the joint FTA feasibility study and (are) committed to adopting a bold and ambitious approach to the study,” said Crean. <<More>>

EU urges India to offer more in trade talks
Reuters, May 20, 2008

The European Commission called on India on Tuesday to go further with its plan to open up its economy to European exports under a bilateral trade deal being negotiated. India has filed a first market access offer with Brussels, an important step in the negotiations for an EU-India trade deal which were launched last year, a spokesman for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, told reporters. "I can confirm that it is certainly a useful and worthwhile opening bid for a negotiation that will have to go further," spokesman Peter Power said. "At this stage it would be unwise for me to put a timetable (on the talks) but certainly we would hope to see substantial movement in the next year to 18 months." Mandelson wants bilateral trade agreements with several of Asia's big emerging markets as part of his plan to create new markets for European manufacturers and service providers. <<More>>

Pacts with developed nations to take Indian trade into new era
The Economic Times, May 20, 2008

India is currently negotiating preferential trade and investment agreements with several developed countries — the European Union, Japan and Korea. It is also contemplating similar agreements with Australia and New Zealand. If these agreements materialise, this would mark a new era in not only India’s global trade but also its globalisation per se. <<More>>

EU gives cautious welcome to India's free trade proposals
AFP, May 20, 2008

India has delivered "useful" proposals for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Europe, but a lot of work remains to be done, a European Commission spokesman said on Tuesday. India and the EU have now delivered their initial proposals and both sides have already offered to cut tariffs on 90 percent of goods in terms of volume. <<More>>

East Africa: Comesa Ministers Root for Common Policy
Business Daily, May 18, 2008

Comesa trade ministers are rooting for a crash programme to harmonise intra-regional policies before the December 2008 deadline of signing a joint Customs Union (CU). With barely eight months left to the deadline, they said urgent measures were required to ensure a common policy position among member nations in conformity with requirements of a CU. A CU would is an area where nations have formed a common trade policy and tariff arrangement with the purpose of increasing economic activity and cementing socio-economic and political ties among themselves.<<More>>

Diplomats suggest common parliament for SAARC
Independent-Bangladesh, May 18, 2008

Local and foreign diplomats Saturday discussed the future development of SAARC, with the idea of a common parliament being floated between the eight member South Asian countries, reports bdnews24.com. They joined a roundtable on "Future of SAARC: Expectations of Citizens" at the National Press Club. The discussion focused on ways SAARC, an economic and political organisation, could better address their common problems and launch collective efforts to face challenges regarding food, energy and the environment. <<More>>

The burdens of the EU-Cariforum EPA
Stabroek News, May 18, 2008

The negotiations for an economic partnership agreement between the EU and Cariforum have provoked substantial criticism regarding the benefits for the latter. Among the many defects of the agreement is that it hampers Caricom’s efforts to promote open regionalism. The envisaged EPA also risks its development dimension, opens the way for the EU's striving for government procurement in developing countries and ultimately seeks to find a way around the impasse created by the stalled Doha Development Round. <<More>>

EU changes tack, eager to put free trade pact negotiations on fast track
The Financial Express, May 17, 2008

The European Union, in a change of mind, is eager to increase the pace of negotiations for free trade agreement (FTA) with India, even as the Doha round of talks under the World Trade Organisation looks headed for collapse. Doha’s failure would allow India and the EU to do without the WTO concept of most-favoured nation (MFN), in which every time a country lowers a trade barrier or opens up its market for particular goods and services, it has to do so for all its trading partners. Earlier this year, in February, senior EU officials had told this correspondent during a visit to the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels that the EU would go slow on the FTA negotiations. Last month, however, the EU decided to push for a revised Trade & Investment Development Programme. And the TIDP will form the basis for the FTA. Daniele Smadja, ambassador and head of the delegation of the European Commission to India, Nepal & Bhutan, who was here recently, declined to comment on the progress of the FTA but said the focus is on the TIDP. “The EU is considering to allot more for a revised Trade & Investment Development Programme, which was an Euro 13.35 million programme when launched in May 2006,” Smadja told FE. <<More>>

EU eager to put FTA negotiations with India on fast track
Indian Express, May 17, 2008

The European Union is eager to increase the pace of negotiations for free trade agreement (FTA) with India, even as the Doha round of talks under the World Trade Organisation looks headed for collapse. Doha’s failure would allow India and the EU to do without the WTO concept of most-favoured nation (MFN), in which every time a country lowers a trade barrier or opens up its market for particular goods and services, it has to do so for all its trading partners. <<More>>