In January, Toshimitsu Motegi, the minister in charge of economic revitalization, announced that an agreement had been reached on the TPP 11, absent the United States, and that it was set to be signed this March. Several days later, U.S. President Donald Trump attracted attention for remarks hinting at Washington returning to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
On February 8, 2018, Indonesian English newspaper the Jakarta Post published the article "China, ASEAN enter a new era hand in hand" written by H.E. Mr. Huang Xilian, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN. The full text is as follows:
The 11 parties to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement who remained following the withdrawal of the United States have set March 8th in Chile as the date for signing the successor to that agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP”)
A reform of trade and investment agreements has been undergoing over the past ten years. While these agreements used to focus solely on facilitating the movement of goods and capitals, their scope is wider today and covers contemporary issues. The European trade policy also evolved and gave birth to a new-generation of free-trade agreements such as the ones concluded with Singapore, Canada or Vietnam. Several factors drove this wave of reform towards a more comprehensive approach to trade and should lead to further improvements.
On January 23, 2018, the Canadian government announced it will sign the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership ("CPTPP"), also referred to as "TPP-11". The agreement is a major commitment to free trade by the 11 participants remaining after the United States withdrew from the original TPP agreement. The text of the CPTPP is largely the same as the original TPP, with certain provisions suspended.
Vietnam has become an ideal location to start a business, not only for young Vietnamese people returning from overseas but also for expatriates, thanks to the country’s strong economic growth in recent years.
Formerly a country that exported crude oil at low prices, Vietnam now produces petroleum products which can satisfy half of domestic demand.
Despite concerns from economic experts about the undetermined scale and scope of Viet Nam’s undocumented market transactions, authorities are adamant that the illicit economy is under control and will soon be regulated heavily.
Donald Trump, Brexit, populist pressures across the EU: are we entering a full-blown crisis of international liberal capitalism? There is no doubt that globalisation poses policy challenges for governments. But globalisation by itself did not force governments to adopt policies that have divided their countries, exacerbated inequality and hit social mobility. Many of them did that by choice.
Importers and exporters make use of the free trade agreements that the EU has signed with other countries - but not as much as they could.
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