A global legal system handling trade disputes worth many millions of dollars ground to a halt Tuesday. The World Trade Organization appellate body, with just one judge left on its seven-member team, can no longer proceed on the 60 or so pending cases or accept new dispute appeals.

U.S. disruption of the global economic order reaches a major milestone on Tuesday as the World Trade Organization (WTO) loses its ability to intervene in trade wars, threatening the future of the Geneva-based body.

India opted out from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at the 3rd RCEP summit held in Bangkok in November 2019, at least until some of its core concerns are addressed. The fear of an import surge into India — particularly from China — as a result of the trade agreement was a major concern. There was difficulty negotiating rules of origin and safeguard measures, as well as service sector market access commitments. Some in India held the view that the impact of the trade pact on farming communities and small-scale industries would be adverse.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the call of not joining the RCEP agreement on November 4 in Bangkok, as India's concerns were not addressed in the pact.

Vietnam’s foreign trade turnover is likely to surpass US$500 billion in 2019, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said at a press conference in Hanoi on December 12.

Japan and South Korea are arranging for their foreign ministers to meet next week in Madrid to lay the groundwork for an upcoming summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Moon Jae In, government sources said Thursday.

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân attended a plenary session of the Federation Council of Russia on Wednesday, during which she outlined Vietnam’s trade co-operation with Russia. 

Despite being considered as the driving force of Vietnam’s economic growth, agriculture has been held back by an incomplete logistics system which fails to ensure quality and connect farms with markets, according to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

A draft regulation put forward by the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) that would limit the foreign ownership rate in the payment intermediary service sector to 49 per cent was discussed at a workshop in Hà Nội yesterday.

Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng has ordered relevant ministries, sectors and authorities of 28 coastal localities to implement comprehensive measures to stop illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by Vietnamese fishing ships in international waters in the next six months.