With most of the high-priority measures in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) blueprint already adopted, policymakers and businesses need to work closely on the remaining challenges to achieve benefits of full economic integration beyond 2015, a new report recommends.

Deputy Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn has suggested that Thailand should eventually join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will control about 40 per cent of global gross domestic product and one-third of world trade if approved.But until the TPP is finalised, Thailand should focus on the Asean-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), she said.

One third of all Australian exports of goods and services are to TPP countries. While the United States and Japan have said they are getting close to making a deal, the two biggest players in the TPP have not yet completed their bilateral market access negotiations of agriculture and autos, which is essential for the overall TPP negotiations to be concluded.

Vietnam is actively engaging in bilateral negotiations with the US and several other countries to ensure its key interests before entering a ministerial meeting aimed at finalising the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh, who is also head of the Vietnamese delegation at the TPP negotiations, said at an interview on August 14 that after the recent ministerial talks in Hawaii ended without a final agreement, the nations are on intensive discussions in preparation for the final meeting.

Experts claim Waikato's dairy sector will be guaranteed a fair deal before New Zealand's negotiators lock in a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), though industry leaders continue to voice reservations. Failed negotiations in Hawaii earlier this month prompted concerns from some dairy industry leaders that our exports would be no better off. Thousands around the country will take to the streets on Saturday to protest against the agreement, although economists and industry leaders have assured naysayers "we're not selling New Zealand up the creek".

ASEAN foreign ministers accepted Norway as a Sectoral Dialogue Partner at their recent meeting in Kuala Lumpa, following Norway’s application early this year to establish a formal partnership with the Asian bloc. The ASEAN free trade area includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Taken together, the ASEAN bloc was Norway’s fourth-largest trading partner and home to the highest concentration of Norwegian companies operating abroad in 2014, according to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

New Zealand’s Trade Minister Tim Groser has stated that he is expecting bilateral negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership to take place in Kuala Lumpur soon for following up on the ministerial level talks that started in Maui, Hawaii.

HA NOI (VNS) — The signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and Viet Nam will bring significant long-term macro-economic benefits for Viet Nam, Fitch Ratings said. "The deal would help to boost foreign investment, productivity and exports, strengthening potential growth and external accounts," Fitch said in a report released this week. The agreement will eliminate almost all tariffs over a 10-year transition period, with most tariffs being removed once the agreement comes into effect.

HA NOI  (VNS) — Viet Nam and Japan would promote trade activities for farming, forestry and fisheries products between the two countries in the near future. Viet Nam's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said this at the second high-ranking dialogue yesterday in Ha Noi with Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Hayashi Yoshimasa on development cooperation in agricultural sector between the two countries. Phat said Viet Nam has opened its market for beef, pork and poultry meat imported from Japan.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement involving ASEAN and six partners: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. Negotiations for the deal between the 16 participating nations began in 2012 and will wrap up by the end of this year. Vo Tri Thanh, deputy director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), spoke to the media about the RCEP's likely impacts. What will be the impact of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on Viet Nam's economy?