News

• First Trade Reform In History Of The World Trade Organization Is Ready For Approval

  December 06, 2013

  GENEVA/NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) – The first global trade reform since the creation of the World Trade Organization is ready for agreement by ministers from the body’s 159 member countries later on Friday, sources involved in the talks said.

  WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo has drafted a text that he will submit to the full membership, signaling that he believes he has found terms that are acceptable to all members, including India which had raised vocal objections over agriculture.

  Barring any last-minute veto, the deal aims to slash red tape at customs around the world, give improved terms of trade to the poorest countries, and allow developing countries to skirt the normal rules on farm subsidies if they are trying to feed the poor.
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• WTO trade chiefs work to finalise long-awaited deals

  December 04, 2013

  BALI, Indonesia – The World Trade Organization (WTO) kicked off its 9th ministerial conference, or the MC9, yesterday in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, struggling to revive the long-stalled Doha Round by reaching a possible trade deal at the four-day meeting.

  Trade chiefs of the WTO’s 159 members will work to break trade impasses and finalise a package of global trade agreements that mainly cover trade facilitation, development and agriculture, in a bid to pave the way for future completion of the Doha Round.

  “It is our hope that over the course of the next few days ministers will be able to send a message to the world that the multilateral trading system still works,” says Gita Wirjawan, chairman of the ministerial conference, at the opening session.
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• VN on track to build open market economy

  November 29, 2013

  HA NOI — Viet Nam did not consider its accession to the World Trade Organisation as a final destination, but simply a step in the whole process of economic reform towards facilitating trade and investment.

  Tran Quoc Khanh, deputy minister of Industry and Trade, made the statement at a workshop to discuss the WTO’s first trade policy review of Viet Nam held in Ha Noi yesterday.

  “Viet Nam has never got back to protectionism and always been determined to pursue trade liberalism and facilitation which has been shown by the initiatives it has taken and active participation in negotiations for free trade agreements (FTA), even at a time of economic difficulty,” Khanh said.
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• Climate change will cause ‘serious economic losses’ in Pacific

  November 26, 2013

  The Pacific region faces serious economic losses due to climate change and it is critical that nations causing the problem step in to help, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday.

  A new report by the bank released in Sydney, “Economics of Climate Change in the Pacific”, showed that losses would range between 2.9 percent and 15.2 percent of annual gross domestic product by 2100.

  The Pacific contains some of the smallest nations on Earth and there are growing fears that global warming and rising seas threaten their very existence, with some of them atolls barely a metre (three feet) above sea level.
  The report assessed the potential impacts of climate change on agriculture, fisheries, tourism, coral reefs, and human health, with the ADB’s Pacific director general Xianbin Yao warning of dire consequences.
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• Trade diplomats fail to reach pre-summit deal: WTO chief Roberto Azevedo

  November 26, 2013

  GENEVA – Negotiators holding marathon talks in Geneva have failed to produce a deal to put on the table at a crunch summit next week,World Trade Organization chief Roberto Azevedo said Tuesday.

  “The reality is that we have proved that we can’t cross the final yard here in Geneva. The process here is over,” Azevedo told reporters.
  “This is not about shortness of time. If we had a few more weeks, we would still not make it,” he said.
  “If we are to get this deal over the line, we will need political engagement and political will,” he added.
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• Qualcomm faces antitrust probe in China

  November 25, 2013

  Chinese regulators have launched an anti-trust investigation into Qualcomm, the U.S. mobile chipmaker said on Monday, and some experts suggested China’s government may be seeking leverage in royalty negotiations.

  China’s largest cellphone carrier is preparing a major move to 4G wireless technology next year, and Qualcomm has been hoping that will provide it with a major new source of royalty revenue. The company said it was not aware of any antitrust violations but would cooperate with the probe by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
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• The ghost of monopoly may be coming back

  November 16, 2013

  Coupled with Viettel’s entry into the telecommunication market in 2004, the monopoly of Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the mother company of Vinaphone and Mobifone,was eventually broken. Since 2005, the telecom market has rallied, boosted by many foreign investors. Yet the ghost of the monopoly time is making a comeback as competition declines.

  That the three mobile operators Viettel, Mobifone and Vinaphone hiked their 3G charges by 40% on October 16 deals a very powerful blow to consumers’ confidence in the telecom market. These service providers increased charges at the same time, by an average of 40%, and replaced the 10KB-10KB block charging with the 50KB+50KB one.
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• Talks seek modest U.N. climate deal for 2015, to raise aid

  November 10, 2013

  WARSAW – World governments meeting in Poland from Monday are likely to make only modest progress in reaching a 2015 deal to fight climate change, with concern over economic growth at least partially eclipsing scientists’ warnings of rising temperatures.

  “We can’t expect a grand agreement that solves the problems in one fell swoop,” said Elliot Diringer, executive director of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, a U.S. think-tank.

  The best hope, he said, was for a 2015 accord in which countries would agree limits on emissions of greenhouse gases with a mechanism to compare and strengthen them over time.
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