A revised free-trade pact between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) facilitating the cross-border flow of services and investment came into force on Saturday.

Vietnam reported a $6.46 billion trade surplus in the first seven months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 328 percent.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai on August 4 held a virtual meeting with Rodrigo Yáñez Benitez, Under-Secretary for International Economic Relations at the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to boost economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

In life, economic and health gains are not always equal. This is true for individuals but also for countries. While Vietnam has managed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak so far, its economy has been hurt in recent months.

How energy sectors react to COVID-19 depends upon the questions they ask and the insights they gain. In Asia, which has long been an engine of global growth and a key player in conventional fuels and renewables, the question is usually something like, ‘what effect will the collapse in oil prices have on energy economies?’

Trade ministers from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies recently issued a statement highlighting outcomes of the 2020 Virtual APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting.

The government is reviewing the continuation of the free trade agreement (FTA) with ASEAN in the wake of the trading bloc’s reluctance to address India’s concerns over what it believes are asymmetries in the trade pact during the last ten years. According to Times of India, the country’s main grouse is the rising trade deficit with the 10–country bloc.

EU exports to Vietnam will be taxed less as of tomorrow, 1 August. This is the immediate effect of the entry into force of the EU-Vietnam trade agreement that will ultimately scrap duties on 99% of all goods traded between the two sides.

July alone saw Vietnam enjoy a trade surplus of estimated US$1 billion, bringing seven-month trade surplus to US$6.5 billion, much higher last year’s figure of US$1.98 billion recorded during the same period, according to the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The U.S. and European Union prepare to launch a barrage of tariffs on each other’s exports.