The South Korean and Chinese governments recently resumed preliminary ministerial discussions on sensitive areas prior to beginning discussions on a free trade agreement (FTA). In a press release Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) reported that Lee Tae-ho, director of the Foreign Ministry’s FTA Policy Bureau, paid an unofficial visit to China that day for ministerial-level discussions on the handling of sensitive areas in connection with the South Korea-China FTA.

HCM CITY — Cashew exports in the first six months of the year reached 67,000 tonnes worth US$499 million, an increase in value, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Senate Finance Committee voted to approve the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement (FTA) bill in a mock markup session Thursday morning, much to the satisfaction of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. “We applaud the bipartisan majorities in the U.S. Senate committee in favor of the FTA. Thank you, Senator Baucus,” declared President Santos on Twitter upon receiving the news of the committee’s decision to approve the draft version of the bill.

(Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Friday it is investigating the probable economic effects of eliminating all tariffs and quotas on goods from the world's least-developed countries (LDCs). The U.S. International Trade Commission said it would report its findings to the U.S. Trade Representative's office in February, two months after a key World Trade Organization meeting at which Washington will be under pressure to agree to a "duty-free, quota-free" package for LDCs.

The European Union should consider signing a free trade agreement with Taiwan as “the EU’s Asian regional economic strategy will not be complete without Taiwan,” said Chen Ming-shy, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade July 6. Chen made the remarks during a speech at the EU’s Trade Policy Review in Geneva. Taiwan is concerned that despite its close relationship with the EU, it is not yet included in the EU’s agenda for FTAs, he said.

JAKARTA, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia and Australia have resumed livestock trade after Australia lifted ban on live cattle export to Indonesia, local media reported on Friday. Dayan Antoni, the coordinator at Indonesian Beef Produce and Feeder Association (Apfindo), said that the agreement to resume the livestock export was reached in a meeting between officials at the association and their Australian counterparts. The meeting was a quick response to the revocation of Australian government's suspension on live cattle export to Indonesia on Thursday.

A US diplomat expressed hope that Vietnam and the US would together make important progress in regional economic integration, record stronger growth, create more jobs and increase income for people in the two economies. Meeting with the Vietnamese business community in Hanoi on July 4 as part of his Vietnam visit, US Ambassador Kurt Tong, Senior Official for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Kurt Tong said that as host country of the APEC Conference 2011, the US was implementing numerous activities to boost regional cooperation.

MOSCOW, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Russian oil export revenues in January-May 2011 grew by nearly 31 percent year-on-year to 67.858 billion U.S. dollars while oil exports declined, Russia's Federal Customs Service said Thursday. It said revenues from oil exports to "far abroad" countries rose by 34 percent, while revenues from exports to the "near abroad", or former Soviet republics, fell by 40 percent.

PHNOM PENH, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has seen 369 percent rise in processed rice exports in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year, showed the statistics from the Ministry of Commerce's Camcontrol Department on Thursday. From January to June 2011, the country had exported 80,442 tonnes of milled rice to European markets and other countries, up 369 percent from 17,144 tonnes at the same period last year, while the export value jumped to 45.7 million U.S. dollars, 241 percent up from 13.4 million U.S. dollars.

EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - A Russian-led Customs Union (CU) has taken protective measures against Ukrainian metals importers in a step indicating Russia is keen to torpedo the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the European Union. The CU is letting the Ukrainian authorities see that it is not prepared to be Ukraine's second-place wife, while the DCFTA is its first love.