Obama has set out to improve economic and political ties with the country since the election of Mauricio Macri, a centrist pro-market president that vowed to break from the Kirchner legacy.
Obama has set out to improve economic and political ties with the country since the election of Mauricio Macri, a centrist pro-market president that vowed to break from the Kirchner legacy.
While Chinese President Xi Jinping is busy greeting world leaders this week at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing, here in the quiet, old Dutch town of Galle, Sri Lanka, Chinese tourists are visiting one of the best preserved colonial-era cities in Southeast Asia.
Today marks one year that The Association of Sick and Fired Workers of General Motors Colombia (ASOTRECOL) members have been camped outside the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia in an act of protest. ASOTRECOL is an association of Colmotores, or General Motors Colombia, employees who assert they were injured while performing their duties at the company’s […]
Last night, 4, 200 boxes of beautiful flowers took flight on a plane from Bogotá, Colombia to Miami, Florida. They arrived early this morning to US shores and represent the first product to enter the US under the Colombia-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The agreement went into effect today. The flowers are […]
It’s no surprise that the “biggies”—the McDonalds, the Microsofts, the Boeings—have a MENA presence (MENA=Middle East and North Africa). But what about small to medium enterprises? How do they even begin to take advantage of this huge (and growing) market of hundreds of millions of consumers? A great answer can be found in an article, […]
Indonesia: As an update to the growing backlash in SE Asia over the China-ASEAN FTA, the Berita Jakarta is already blaming the FTA on a decline in exports from Jakarta: It can be seen from the decline in the city’s export value by 4.80 percent or US$ 2.828 billion in January this year, from that […]
This blog previously commented on rising opposition to and grumbling over the China – ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in Southeast Asia, which went into effect on 90 percent of products, on January 1, 2010 Times Magazine Online has an article concerning more of the downsides of the FTA. For example, Indonesian Trade Minister, Mari […]
Philippines: China and the Philippines signed two major agreements last week. The first agreement, the Joint Action Plan for Strategic Cooperation, is a bilateral relations road map for the next five years. The second, the Philippines-China Consular Agreement, is the first consular agreement that the Philippines has negotiated with another nation. This agreement includes notification […]
The United States: Republican Senator Dick Lugar is calling for the U.S. to create a free trade agreement with ASEAN. Lugar stated that sanctions on Myanmar should not negatively America’s economic relationship with the rest of the region. Further: “China, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea have already finalized FTAs with Asean and are […]
-Najib Razak’s United Malays National Organization (UMNO) is fanning racial flames in an attempt to shore up power for its National Front Coalition. Although Najib came to office promising to be more inclusive of minorities, recent electoral pressure from the opposition People’s Alliance has prompted a change in strategy. Analyst believe the UMNO wants […]
Notwithstanding the paralysis of the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round and the current global economic recession, bilateral and regional trade deals have continued to progress in Southeast Asia. Over the last decade, ASEAN has negotiated free trade agreements (FTA) at breakneck speeds, signing deals with Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. It is also in the […]