Intra-regional trade is really pathetic within the Southern African Development Community, says United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Regional Agriculture Programme Manager Cecilia Kuphe. She said most African farmers preferred to export their products to overseas countries over selling to neighbouring states, which could actually work out cheaper and more profitable.

India is worried over the World Trade Organisation (WTO) losing its credibility as it has not been able to deliver anything in the past two years due to the deadlock in the Doha round of talks meant to carry forward the development agenda in global trade. At the heart of the matter is the US resistance to conceding any concessions to other countries due to the political compulsions of the Barack Obama government, which is headed for the next elections.

(Reuters) - The World Trade Organization, citing turmoil in the global economy, on Friday cut its forecast for the growth of trade in 2011 from the 6.5 per cent it predicted in April to 5.8 per cent, and warned that the final figure could be lower. The WTO said the move reflected the fact that trade had grown more slowly than expected in recent months "and the outlook for the global economy is increasingly uncertain." Since the April forecast, it said, "developed economies in particular have been buffeted by strong headwinds."

NEW YORK (Kyodo) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Thursday agreed with his British counterpart David Cameron that the two countries will step up their efforts to realize a free trade agreement between Japan and the European Union. Noda called for Britain’s continued cooperation in fostering the momentum for signing the agreement, Japan’s Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Nagahama said.

EU and Georgia are expected to launch talks on deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) “very soon”, provided that Georgia takes all the remaining steps required for beginning of these negotiations, an EU official said after a session of Georgia-EU cooperation committee in Tbilisi on September 22.

The European Commission has approved the European Union’s free trade agreement with Colombia and Peru, international media reported. The agreement will now be passed to the European Council and Parliament for final ratification. "I can confirm that the FTA with Colombia and Peru has been approved by the college of commissioners," a source told Spanish news agency EFE. The adoption of a proposal by the college of commissioners signals the end of the first of three stages of being passed into E.U. law.

TOKYO (Nikkei)--"Opening up this country to the rest of the world is the single most important task for Japan's survival in the international community," argues Shoei Utsuda, chairman of the Japan Foreign Trade Council and of trading house Mitsui & Co. "The government ought to have the courage to press the public for a decision" on joining negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, Utsuda said Wednesday. While the new government is taking a very visible stance on coping with the strong yen, the debate on the TPP has stalled, he said.

A statement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative has disclosed that the nine countries involved in negotiating the extended Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – the United States, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and Brunei – have made progress in a further round of negotiations in Chicago.

Taiwan and Japan signed their first investment accord, strengthening economic ties and stepping closer toward negotiating a free-trade deal. The treaty provides for investment protection, promotion and liberalization, Peng Run-tsu, chairman of Taiwan’s East Asia Relations Commission, said today in Taipei after signing the agreement with Mitsuo Ohashi, the chairman of the Japan Interchange Association.

The chances of Russia joining the World Trade Organization by the end of the year are slim, according to the country's Economic Development Minister, who told a recent investment forum that failed talks with Georgia, and ongoing negotiations with the European Union, could drag the process into 2012 and potentially beyond. Russia, the largest country outside of the trade bloc, had been widely tipped to receive approval from the WTO when member states convene in December, concluding what has been a protracted eighteen-year process.