BRUSSELS (VNS) — Viet Nam is a friendly and reliable partner of the EU and the Free Trade Agreement being negotiated will promote growth for both sides, a senior European Commission official has said. Joseph Waldstein Wartenberg, spokesman for the EC's Trade Office, told the Vietnam News Agency reporter in Brussels that the signing of the Agreement of Partnership and Cooperation and the FTA negotiations are positive signs in bilateral ties as Viet Nam and the EU celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year.

BRUSSELS: Keen to expand economic ties with India, the European Union has sought a ’political push’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restart the stalled talks for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and expressed readiness to adopt flexibility to iron out differences on crucial issues.

HA NOI  (VNS) — The signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Viet Nam and South Korea is expected to boost Viet Nam's shrimp exports to South Korea in the near future. Under the FTA, South Korea will reduce taxes and offer additional opportunities for agricultural and seafood products to be exported from Viet Nam, which includes shrimp, fish, fruits, textile and garments, and mechanical products. Among these, shrimp is listed in the group, on which taxes will be reduced faster and more drastically.

(Reuters) - China hopes to finish talks on creating an Asian free-trade bloc estimated to cover 28 percent of the world economy by the end of this year, the country's trade minister said on Saturday. Gao Hucheng said on the sidelines of China's annual session of parliament that China would work hard to wrap up talks for the RCEP, or Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, before the end of this year.

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States have been in close touch regarding U.S. beef exports to China, but no breakthrough has been made, a Chinese agricultural official said here Friday. Bi Meijia, chief economist at the Ministry of Agriculture, made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing National People's Congress annual session.

The European Union has pledged an additional EUR 2 million to the WTO Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) and EUR 100,000 for evaluating the fund. The contributions will support the active participation of developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) in the Doha Round negotiations. The DDAGTF finances around 280 activities per year, mostly tailor-made training delivered at regional and national level, covering all trade-related areas including trade facilitation, agriculture and services.

(Reuters) - A delay in finalizing legislation to streamline the passage of trade deals through the U.S. Congress should not push back the timetable for completing a Pacific trade deal, a senior State Department official said on Friday. Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Catherine Novelli said even if lawmakers do not vote on so-called fast track legislation until April, it will not stop negotiators from pressing ahead with the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

(Reuters) - A group of prominent U.S. economists, including former Federal Reserve chiefs, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, wrote to congressional leaders Thursday to support key trade legislation but warn against including currency rules in trade deals. The economists, all former chairs of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, said legislation to streamline the passage of trade deals through Congress "encourages our trade partners to put their best offers on the table."

Japan’s new Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Yoshimasa Hayashi, who previously served in the position in 2012–14, was a logical choice to take over from his disgraced predecessor Koya Nishikawa. He arrived at the Prime Minister’s Office (Kantei) only five minutes after Nishikawa left, and was apparently selected because he was ‘the only one that could immediately do the job’.

TOKYO (AP) — A deal between Japan and the U.S. needed to move ahead with a Pacific Rim trade pact is possible by this spring, a top Japanese trade negotiator said Tuesday. Top negotiators for the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership meet in Hawaii next week. Wendy Cutler, acting deputy U.S. trade representative, will visit Japan for talks beginning Thursday on the politically sensitive issue of dismantling protections for Japan's farm products and for U.S. autos and auto parts.