Trade currency settlement   
   

In May, the finance ministers of Korea, China and Japan agreed to study the feasibility of using their own currencies to settle transactions among the three countries. The agreement, reached on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank’s annual conference in Hanoi, drew attention as using local currencies in trade settlements would provide huge benefits to the three neighboring countries. (The Korea Herald)

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Asia’s new global crisis      

The renewed global economic slowdown is putting pressure on Asian countries to review their export-based growth model and their vulnerabilities to the inflows and outflows of capital. (The Malaysia Star)

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Indonesia: Workshop of the world  
  

A recent wave of investment in manufacturing in Indonesia could herald the country’s rise as an international industrial player. A rapidly growing domestic market of more than 230 million people, as well as the potential for exports both regional and across the globe, are major draws for companies from around the world. (The Jakarta Post)

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Multilateralizing Chinindia   
   

The last few years have witnessed a regular stream of irritants in Sino-Indian interactions. Even bilateral trade, once regarded as the pillar of their rapprochement, has been losing its shine with a rising trade deficit in China's favor reaching US$16 billion in 2010. This deficit is expected to reach US$25 billion by 2015 with total trade at around US$100 billion. Unless the two countries explore other avenues of mutual benefit, even this modest trade target may become impossible to achieve. (Asia Pacific Bulletin)

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Are there real dangers in the Trans Pacific Partnership Idea?   
   

The idea of a Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, at least among the nine Asia Pacific countries that are currently signed up for the negotiations, has been hyped up over the last year as the Obama administration declared it to be the way forward on a new American engagement with Asia. (East Asia Forum)

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India-Japan closer economic partnership   
   
In a far-reaching strategic move, India and Japan signed the much-awaited comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) on 16 February. Under this agreement, India agreed to remove tariffs on 94 per cent of good over the next 10 years. The deal will facilitate trade growth and enable both parties to reach the target of US$25 billion worth bilateral trade by 2014 from its present US$10.3 billion. This deal has special significance. Barring a similar deal with Singapore and South Korea, this is the first trade deal India has signed with a major industrial country. (East Asia Forum)

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What’s Next in Asia?   
   

As India and China continue their phenomenal growth on the world economic stage, the focus on these two key markets have seen a growth of Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) and supporting industries moving to markets like Singapore and Hong Kong as gateways to North and South Asia. There has also been movement into newer, emerging markets like Vietnam and Indonesia where some are successfully riding the coattails of these more established markets. (PRNewswire)

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Trans-Pacific Partnership – has its momentum come?

The fifth round of negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be held in Santiago de Chile next week. This is the first, out of the five rounds scheduled for 2011, which are expected to produce a draft free trade agreement (FTA) among 9 out of 21 APEC countries (2006 original P4 countries - Singapore, New Zealand, Chile, and Brunei, plus the five newcomers - the United States, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, and  Malaysia). While the prospective TPP members are all in the APEC, it is not officially this grouping’s initiative. Even though since its inception in 1993 APEC has been more of a policy coordination forum than a free-trade aspiring grouping, TPP negotiators have been widely using this organizations experience for advancing the goal of regional economic integration.

Australian trade deal real test of gov’t resolve on ‘Hensei opening of Japan’   

Stalled negotiations between the governments of Japan and Australia toward an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) have now restarted, and will be a major test of the Japanese government's determination to back up its current pet mantra of "the Heisei opening of Japan" with real action, particularly against the backdrop of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks -- to which Australia is also party. (The Mainichi Daily News)

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Regional trade in South Asia   

South Asia also possesses a bright future due to the constant emergence of new entrepreneurial groups in the region. This new generation is more skillful, updated with new technology, with an aptitude for harnessing regional opportunities and better educated to address the challenges of increasing volatility in this globalized world. India being the biggest and fastest-growing economy in the region should help in tapping this potential in the region. (My Republica)

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Hesitation as Good Policy   

Businessmen want the Philippine government to act fast, negotiate with the European Union for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and warn that continued pussy-footing will cause the country to miss the opportunities that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations fellow-member-countries have begun to benefit from. (The Manila Times)

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