Singapore's economy may contract 0.8 per cent this year from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic after growing 0.7 per cent in 2019, said S&P Global Ratings on Monday (March 23).

The European Union (EU)’s border closure to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has not yet had a significant impact on goods circulation, said an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that a global recession "is a near certainty" and current national responses to the coronavirus pandemic "will not address the global scale and complexity of the crisis."

It’s taken weeks of calls and letters to the Trump administration to get a response over potential tariff reductions as the coronavirus outbreak threatened to snuff out countless small- and medium-sized U.S. businesses.

While most textile and footwear enterprises in Việt Nam struggled to find alternative sources of raw materials to maintain production, some with local sources have survived during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Foreign enterprises operating in Vietnam in the areas of electronics, automobile assembly, garments and textiles and others are seeking local partners amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in a large number of countries across the world. This is an opportunity for Vietnam's supporting industry enterprises to accelerate and participate in the global value chain.

The European Union on Wednesday emphasized its desire to negotiate an end to a longstanding dispute with the United States over aircraft subsidies even as Washington raised duties on Airbus aircraft by 50 percent.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Thursday wrote to leaders of ASEAN countries and New Zealand proposing the 36th ASEAN Summit, the ASEAN-New Zealand Summit and related meetings, initially scheduled for April 8-9 in Việt Nam’s Đà Nẵng City, be postponed until the end of June.

China is working with other parties to push for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to be signed as scheduled.

While many industries are suffering from the coronavirus outbreak, the shrimp sector has yet to see a big impact as now is not their main harvest season. Producers and exporters are seeking to enhance their competitiveness so as to seize on new opportunities and overcome the outbreak in the time ahead.