Vietnam and Singapore pledged here Thursday to boost free trade, and continue joining regional initiatives including ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).
ASEAN's 10 members have fashioned a single market and liberalized trade with Japan, the U.S., Europe, India and Australia. But the U.S., long the standard-bearer for free trade, has turned inward with the advent of the Trump administration. The latest G-20 statement has underlined ASEAN's fears.
East Asia continues to sustain a high level of economic integration, yet a significant proportion of intraregional trade is still uncovered by agreements to guard against current and possible future protectionism. Without multilateral movement under the World Trade Organization, further regional integration can proceed only through agreements that reduce trade barriers within the region
Vietnam highly values and welcomes the outcomes of the strategic partnership between ASEAN and New Zealand, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said at the 24th ASEAN-New Zealand Dialogue held in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 21-22.
Malaysia has been China’s largest trading partner in the ASEAN region since 2008, and it is its third biggest Asian trading partner after Japan and South Korea. Bilateral trade between the two countries, which grew at 4.4 percent in 2016, is expected to continue expanding.
Leaders of the Philippines and Thailand have vowed to strengthen defense and economic cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to work together to address common concerns.
Israel wants to expand co-operation with Việt Nam in the fields of agriculture, space technology, and defense security, President Reuven Rivlin told Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc during their meeting in Hà Nội.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström visited Manila recently to discuss trade with Asean Economic Ministers. The summit was a milestone in itself as the Ministers discussed the next steps toward the resumption of the Asean-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations as well as ways to enhance economic cooperation in addressing emerging challenges and capitalizing on opportunities for trade and investment between the two regions.
<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
