ISDS Case Map
ASEAN
South Korea said Monday it will launch the second round of free trade negotiations with Cambodia this week as the country broadens efforts to expand its export portfolio to cushion the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic.
India has pitched for stronger provisions in the rules of origin, removal of non-tariff barriers and better market access in the existing FTA with the the ASEAN, arguing the changes should kick off sooner rather than later.
Negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) have entered the final stage of legal scrubbing and are set to be signed soon, with the exclusion of India.
The government is reviewing the continuation of the of the free trade agreement (FTA) with Asean n the wake of the trading bloc’s reluctance to address India’s concerns over what it believes are asymmetries in the decade-old treaty.
A revised free trade pact between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations facilitating the cross-border flow of services and investment entered into force on Saturday.
Cambodia has listed around 340 more commodities to export to China under the Cambodia-China bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA), bringing the total to more than 10,000. Most of the products are in agriculture and agro-processing and are in addition to what Cambodia has received from the Asean-China FTA, according to a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce.
The biggest concern of India with RCEP at this juncture is not merely the economic reasons, but more geopolitical: the existence of China.
The current pandemic, and the treaty claims which are likely to stem from it, are a reminder of the importance for ASEAN to be engaged in ongoing discussions at the United Nations of possible reform of the system of investment treaty arbitration.
Japan has completed its legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the First Protocol to amend the ASEAN-Japan Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP).
South Korea is seeking to launch negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement with Cambodia next month, hoping to increase its economic influence in Southeast Asia.
