The signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) took place last week, but questions now loom over the status of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The RCEP recently progressed to yet another ministerial meeting on 3rd March, after which it was reported to be closer to finalisation.
AUSTRALIA is reaffirming its relationship with Asean this week when it hosts a special summit in Sydney, but the Philippines is missing out on much of the opportunities.
China is now Asean’s largest trading partner, according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who spoke to the media late last week at a press conference on the sidelines of the first session of the 2018 National People’s Congress (NPC).
Vietnam should encourage other ASEAN members to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a senior official from the Japanese Foreign Ministry said at the Ministerial Conference of the OECD in Tokyo on March 8.
The ASEAN Joint Consultative Meeting in Singapore on March 7-8 reviewed agenda and events of the 32nd ASEAN Summit scheduled for April 25-28 in the island state.
Each time that ASEAN-EU ties appear to be on an upward curve, some mishap occurs. In the past year, due to major geopolitical shifts regionally and globally, particularly over transatlantic ties, the EU has paid more attention to ASEAN, seeking to expand ties beyond trade and investment to include security and strategic matters
As Singapore takes over the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, it will push for the roll-out of an e-commerce agreement and an innovation network to give businesses a leg-up when they expand across Southeast Asia.
Earlier this month, the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Retreat was held in Singapore — the first of its kind this year as the city-state assumed the regional bloc’s chairmanship in 2018.
<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
