Bangladesh hopes to sign a free trade agreement with India this year, its Commerce Secretary Md Ghulam Hussain said here. "We have agreed that the FTA will be good for both the countries," he said after addressing a Singapore seminar on investment in Bangladesh. FTA documents have been exchanged and negotiations were underway, he said but declined to give a specific timeframe for signing the FTA. Bangladesh is also negotiating FTAs with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, he said.

CANBERRA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday said the federal government plans to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Malaysia within a year. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrived in Canberra for a three-day official visit. This is his first visit to Australia since becoming prime minister. Australia and Malaysia launched negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement in 2005. After six years of discussions, Gillard has agreed to a request from Razak to fast-track talks after meeting with him in Canberra on Thursday.

Switzerland and Romania have recently signed the protocol amending the bilateral double taxation agreement (DTA) in place between the two countries in the area of taxes on income and capital. According to the Swiss Federal Administration, the revised DTA contains provisions on the exchange of information in line with internationally applicable standards and will serve to contribute to the further positive development of bilateral economic relations.

Leading Indian industry body the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has called for curbs on iron ore exports by increasing export tax on fines and lumps (fines are less than 6mm in size and lumps are 10mm to 40mm) from 5% and 15% to 30%. According to ASSOCHAM, to save duty, manufacturers are currently converting lumps into fines to save duty before exporting the the products to China.

New Delhi, Mar 2 (PTI) India and the bloc of 10 Southeast Asian nations today exuded confidence that their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), presently limited to merchandise, will be enlarged to cover services and investment sectors by 2011-end. The two sides are engaged in hectic negotiations to expand the ambit of FTA in goods, which was already operationalised from January last year, to include trade in services and investments, a key area of interest for India.

MA'ANSHAN, Anhui, March 1 (Xinhua) -- East Asia should wait no more for the opening of dialogues over the establishment of a free trade area (FTA) that will help facilitate the global economic recovery, a Chinese commerce official said here on Tuesday. Yu Jianhua, assistant commerce minister, said that the conditions for the set-up of an FTA in East Asia had been fairly good as the mutual cooperation and dependence in trade among the Association of the South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) had been increasingly integrated.

SANTIAGO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chile-Turkey Free Trade Agreement (FTA) became effective Tuesday, with 98 percent of bilateral trade now tax-free and the rest to follow suit within six years. It is Chile's 21st valid trade agreement described as a win-win deal, under which the South American country hopes to gain greater access to the vast markets of oil-rich Middle East and Central Asia. Meanwhile, Turkey regards the agreement, its first FTA with a Western hemisphere country, as a way to explore the opportunities in the other side of the world.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) marked the start of a new phase in their economic cooperation, with the latter agreeing to continue its help in realising the ASEAN single market. The ASEAN-EU Programme for Regional Integration Support (APRIS) has directly supported ASEAN in the implementation of its blueprint for the ASEAN Economic Community, in particular helping with practical steps for establishing the ASEAN single market and production base.

WASHINGTON — President Obama has made expanding exports a centerpiece of his plan for accelerating the economic recovery, but in recent weeks, his trade agenda has nearly ground to a halt amid partisan feuding.

(Reuters) - U.S. trade officials reacted icily to China's decision on Monday to challenge U.S. shrimp duties at the World Trade Organization, which they said would complicate efforts to resolve a trade spat involving a number of other U.S. trading partners. "The United States is deeply disappointed in China's decision to request consultations," Nefeterius McPherson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, said in a statement.