South Asia, South East Asia, Africa, Middle East / North Africa, Latin America, Other.

Leaders Expect Accord on Transportation and Tourism in BIMSTEC Summ

Leaders of the seven countries comprising Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will meet in Bangkok at the end of this week and are expected to agree on closer links in transport and tourism, the Thai Foreign Ministry said.

Cambodian, Laos, Vietnamese Prime Ministers Discuss Triangle Develo

Cambodian, Laos and Vietnamese Prime Ministers discussed at the meeting on July 21 in Seam Reap, Cambodia, processes of implementing the programme on the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam triangle development, which was defined by Samdech Hun Sen, Cambodian Prime Minister in 1999.

Vietnam and Singapore to Build on Bilateral Track to Progress

Vietnam and Singapore should continue to build on existing bilateral relations for mutual and regional benefit. This sentiment was the key outcome of the talks between Nong Duc Manh, Party General Secretary, and Abdullah Tarmugi, Singapore’s visiting parliamentary speaker, on July 19.

Vietnam and Laos Build Finance Bridges

Nguyen Tan Dzung, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister, pledged his full support of economic cooperation between Vietnam and Laos on July 16. Dozung spoke at a ha Noi reception for Chansy Phosikham, Lao Minister of Finance, on an official visit to meet with his Vietnamese counterpart.

Thailand and Australia Signed Free Trade Deal

Thailand and Australia signed on 5 July a landmark free trade deal heralded as an important step towards Australia and New Zealand’s inclusion in a Southeast Asian free trade zone.

Singapore and Pakistan Boost Economic Ties

Goh Chok Tong, Singapore Prime Minister, and Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani President, agreed to boost trade and economic cooperation. Goh said “Pakistan should make its planned free trade agreement with Singapore as comprehensive as possible because doing so would be a signal to investors that it was serious about reforming its economy.”

22 Asian Nations Adopt 13 Programmes on Cooperation

The 22 member Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) decided to intensify cooperation among themselves in a big way to take Asia’s economic integration to the next level, make travel into and within Asia easier and bridge the divide within Asia and between Asia and the world.

Vietnam and Laos Agreed to Expand Multi-Faceted Relations

Phan Van Khai, Vietnamese Prime Minister, pledged to encourage more Vietnamese investment in Laos and to continue assisting human resource development in the Laos government and improve socio-economic development.

ASEAN Insists Myanmar Be Accepted as New Member of ASEM

Syed Hamid Albar, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, said that Southeast Asian countries would not accept new European Union members into an Asia-Europe partnership if EU countries block Myanmar from joining the grouping.

Southeast Asian Finance Chiefs See Stronger Growth Ahead

The economic recovery in Southeast Asia is expected to gather momentum with broad-based growth of nearly 6% likely this year, the region’s finance ministers said. The finance ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said their economies were drawing strength from both external demand for the region’s exports and rising domestic spending.

IMF and World Bank in Africa

The heads of the IMF and the World Bank visited the African continent from 21 to 25 February. The leaders of both institutions admitted the importance of the opening of western markets to the exports from Africa. In a meeting with 22 African Heads of State it was discussed what could be done to reduce poverty on the continent.

Trying to deal with Europe. The fight towards ALCA

The idea of ALCA ( American Area for Free Comerce) appeared for the very first time in december 1994, and the expectations were that it would be ready for 2005. But nowadays, is the ALCA in stand by or is it developing toward different paths than the original ones? If we think about the failure of the meeting that took place in Buenos Aires last week, the answer would be that it is on stand by, at least, considering the huge gap that separates the opposite positions in the negotiations nowadays.

Brasil y Venezuela firman acuerdos

Los presidentes de Venezuela y Brasil, Hugo Chávez y Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva respectivamente, firmaron ayer un "acuerdo marco para programas de financiación" por mil millones de dólares.

El fondo, que será aportado por el Banco Nacional de Desa rrollo Económico y Social de Brasil, se destinará a la compra de bienes y servicios brasileños por parte de empresas venezolanas. El acuerdo es independiente de otros para la ejecución de obras de infraestructura como un segundo puente sobre el Río Orinoco o una nueva línea del Metro de Caracas, que actualmente construyen empresas brasileñas.