Indonesian President Joko Widodo on April 1 inaugurated three special economic zones (SEZs) covering 2,200 ha of land in the provinces of East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, and North Maluku in a bid to attract investment and spur economic growth in less-developed areas of the country.
Indonesia and Australia have signed a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) – the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) – to open up their economies to mutually beneficial growth. Both nations are expected to benefit greatly from the new arrangement. Australia is promised better access to a highly restricted and regulated import market mainly for resource exports but also opportunities to sell its educational products. Indonesia on the other hand will gain from the elimination of most tariffs on exports to Australia as well as increased Australian investments in the local economy.
The Philippines’s economy is poised to grow at 6.4 percent in 2019 and 6.5 percent in 2020-2021 amid lingering global and local uncertainties, according to a report released by the World Bank (WB) on April 1.
The ASEAN Solutions for Investments, Services and Trade (ASSIST) is a non-binding and consultative mechanism for the expedited and effective solution of operational problems encountered by ASEAN Enterprises on cross-border issues related to the implementation of ASEAN economic agreements and within the framework of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) launched in 2015. ASSIST is fully internet based and free of charge.
Vietnam’s GDP growth is forecasted to slow to 6.7 per cent this year and 6.2 per cent by 2020, according to a report produced by ICAEW.
Last week, I was part of a group of Freshfields lawyers attending Money20/20 Asia in Singapore to learn about the latest trends in financial services, payments and fintech and to network and connect with clients. The conference was every bit as engaging and informative as we’d expected, and I’ve been reflecting on the key themes shaping the future of finance in Asia:
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on March 29 announced a number of measures to boost economic independence and support local exporters, given the possible lifting of the European Union (EU)'s preferential trade arrangement under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.
The Philippines said on Thursday (March 28) it would form a "technical working group" with Malaysia and Indonesia to address its concern over alleged smuggling and dumping of palm oil that have lowered the domestic prices of the country's coconut oil.
<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
