HCM CITY (VNS) — Ahead of next month's meeting of the ASEAN Economic Integration task force, Netherlands-based consultancy TMF Group has published a briefing paper titled "The ASEAN Economic Community: Capturing the zeitgeist of rising Asia" exploring how international businesses can best harness the potential of this growing region. TMF's Asia-Pacific head Paolo Tavolato said 2015 would be a defining moment for Southeast Asian economies as the deadline for the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) looms.

HCMC – Exports of HCMC have surged at least 3.6 times since Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) nine years ago, according to a report of the HCMC government. The city saw its outbound sales rising from nearly US$8.9 billion in 2006 to US$32.08 billion last year, up 3.6 times, said a review report on Vietnam’s international economic integration since the nation joined the global trade club in January 2007.

From June 1 to 4, 2015, delegates from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states and Turkey met in Ankara for the third round of negotiations on the modernization and expansion of their existing free trade agreement (FTA).

(VOVworld) – The mid-term Vietnam Business Forum opened in Hanoi on Tuesday to discuss improving business competitiveness in the context of Vietnam’s signing of a number of free trade agreements. 

HA NOI  (VNS) — Viet Nam won a bid for rice supply to the Philippines late last week, with an offer of US$410.12 per tonne, according to the Philippines' National Food Authority (NFA). Accordingly, 150,000 tonnes of rice, of which 25 per cent is broken white rice, from Viet Nam will be shipped to the Philippines on July 15. Earlier, the NFA invited Cambodia, Thailand, and Viet Nam to take part in bidding for 250,000 tonnes of rice supply to the country in accordance with intergovernmental contracts. Cambodia did not participate in the bidding.

The Obama administration is refusing to slash agriculture tariffs and import quotas in a mooted Pacific Rim free-trade deal, frustrating other trade negotiators and leaving Australia facing an uphill battle for its sugar growers and cattle farmers to sell more of their produce in the lucrative United States market.

Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb today announced that Australia has formally accepted the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation. “I am very pleased that Australia has now formally accepted this agreement.  On full implementation, it is estimated that the Trade Facilitation Agreement will increase global GDP by US$1 trillion per annum and create 21 million jobs, with developing nations expected to be major beneficiaries,” Mr Robb said.

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt—Senior African officials negotiating a trade deal in Egypt to create a common market across half the continent said Monday the pact was ready to be signed. The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) spanning 26 countries is to be launched at a summit of heads of state and government on Wednesday in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. The pact aims to set up a common framework for tariff preferences that would ease the movement of goods across the area’s member countries.

The FTA, signed May 29 in Burabai, Kazakhstan after more than two years of negotiations, marks a milestone in the relationship between Vietnam and EAEU members. The pact marks Vietnam’s deepened integration into the international market and represents the first deal the EAEU – including Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan –  has signed with a third side. It includes tariff liberalization between Vietnam and the EAEU that will reduce or eliminate import customs duties for the majority of goods and services traded between the sides.

South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy, Yoon Sang-jick, and China's Commerce Minister, Gao Hucheng, signed the free trade agreement between their two countries on June 1 in Seoul. Negotiations on the FTA only began in May 2012, but were completed by November last year following a meeting in Beijing. As the most substantial FTA South Korea has signed, its Government is now looking to make the agreement effective as soon as possible.