1.   

Signing of WTO trade facilitation deal vital for global value chain: OECD

Signing of the much-hyped pact on trade facilitation under the Doha round of global trade talks in World Trade Organization (WTO) is crucial for the development of global value chains, which is gradually emerging as a predominant factor for seamless global trade concerning both the developed and developing worlds. An agreement on trade facilitation basically refers to reduction in red tape and enhancing customs cooperation. For the first time in last 12 years, since the talks have started in 2001 in Doha (Qatar), there is going to be an agreement on the issue of trade facilitation.

2.   

ADB asks the flurry of FTAs to be stringed together

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today said the government should start thinking about consolidating the flurry of free trade agreements (FTAs) it has implemented or is negotiating, by bringing all deals under one mega agreement. “India should start multilateralisation of all the FTAs it has signed or is going to sign. By doing this, it will not have to worry about ratifying them and put an end to all sorts of trade diversion,” said Jayant Menon, lead economist (trade and regional cooperation), Office of Regional Economic Integration.

3.   

Khurshid arrives in Iran, to discuss bilateral trade

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid arrived in Tehran on Friday on a three-day visit during which he will have talks with Iranian leadership on ways to increase commercial links with the sanctions-hit country to reduce huge bilateral trade imbalance. India’s participation in the upgradation of Iran’s Chahbahar port, which gives access to Afghanistan, will also be among a host of issues expected to figure in the talks that Khurshid will have with his counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi and President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

4.   

Time to be Trading Partners

India and the European Union continue to struggle to conclude a bilateral free trade agreement six years after the negotiations were first launched in 2007. There’s a new momentum in the talks after the visit of the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, to Germany a few days back where he, along with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, emphasized the importance of concluding the ongoing India-EU broad-based trade and investment agreement talks expeditiously.