SEOUL, May 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and Japan are scheduled to hold next week working-level talks aimed at restarting negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), the trade ministry here said Friday. The talks, to be held next Monday in Seoul, will center on issues including conditions for resuming the stalled negotiations and non-tariff barriers, according to the ministry.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korea and Malaysia are exploring a possible bilateral Free Trade Agreement, or FTA, to expand trade and investment ties. The Malaysian International Trade and Industry ministry issued a statement, saying both countries have agreed to conduct separate studies on the 'feasibility of commencing FTA negotiations' after leaders from both sides decided to 'explore means to strengthen bilateral relations.'

The Committee on Safeguards, on 2 May 2011, considered 23 notifications of safeguard action led by Indonesia with seven and Ukraine with five. Indonesia said the increase in its safeguard notifications was the result of recent awareness in the domestic industry of the availability of trade remedies like safeguards to counter the negative effects of trade liberalization. It said that its notifications should be seen as a reflection of its wish to be as transparent as possible, and assured other members that its safeguard investigations would be conducted in line with WTO rules.

Despite continued opposition from the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) pushed approval of the South Korea-European Union (EU) free trade agreement (FTA) through the South Korean parliament on May 5. The FTA’s passage through the National Assembly had been in doubt up to the last moment, despite the majority held by the GNP. For example, its ratification bill had been approved by the parliamentary foreign affairs and trade committee at the end of last month, but only after the government had made some concessions.

JAKARTA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian Industrial Minister MS Hidayat said that Indonesia and the European Union (EU) would set up a joint commission tasked to discuss standards of trade commodities between the two economies, local media reported here on Thursday. Hidayat said that the discussions would set up detailed standards approved by respective authorities. According to the minister, the would-be discussed joint standards will be implemented in each commodity sector involved in trade between the two economies.

India today said it attaches priority to its strategic partnership with Japan, even as bilateral trade and investment is set to get a boost after their comprehensive market-opening pact comes into force. Bilateral trade and strategic ties between the countries came up for discussion during a meeting between India's Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, and Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda here today. The two ministers were in Hanoi for the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank.

The achievements of 10 years of negotiations must not be discarded in the face of continuing Doha Round stalemate, World Trade Organization (WTO) delegates have stressed, as director general Pascal Lamy warns of talks teetering on the brink of failure.

VNEconomyNews.com - Vietnam’s wood exports generated US$1.1 billion in the first four months of the year, up 52% from same period last year, with the U.S. and European countries remaining key buyers. Meanwhile, local wood processors so far have imported US$350 million worth of timber and other materials, up 18% over the same period last year, according to the agriculture ministry.

(Reuters) - The chief of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy, hailed on Monday the impending accession of small Pacific island state Vanuatu as a sign of confidence in the body at a time of turbulence. Lamy, who said last week that the WTO's Doha round of negotiations on a new global trade pact was on the edge of failure after 10 years, was speaking after a working group approved terms for Vanuatu to join.

If Vietnamese enterprises have thorough preparations, they can take full advantage of the opportunities to be brought by free trade agreements (FTA) between Vietnam and other countries in the world. Vietnam is under the negotiations for a series of FTA with countries and blocs. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), to date, Vietnam and Chile has conducted seven negotiation sessions on a bilateral FTA. The ministry believes that it is very likely that the two sides will reach an FTA after some more negotiation sessions.