The 10 members of ASEAN would benefit more than other Asian countries if free-trade agreements (FTAs) were struck within the region, the group said, citing studies it commissioned.
A free-trade agreement that included the group, Japan, South Korea and China would lift Southeast Asia’s economic growth by 3.6 percent, ASEAN said in a statement released late yesterday, citing a feasibility study. GDP in Japan, South Korea and China would climb 0.9 percent, they said.
A broader trade deal that also included India, Australia and New Zealand would boost ASEAN’s GDP by 3.8 percent, the regional grouping said in a separate statement. Growth in all 16 nations would increase an average 1.3 percent, the statement said.
No details of how the figures were arrived at, or over what period the growth would occur, were provided in the statements. Staff at the press office of an ASEAN economic ministers’ meeting in Bangkok, where the statements were issued, were unable to provide more information.
ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, has conducted trade talks with other Asian nations in a bid to reduce reliance on exports to the US and Europe.
The regional grouping this week signed an agreement with India that will remove or reduce tariffs on most of their traded goods. It also signed an investment deal with China yesterday as part of a free-trade agreement that is scheduled to take effect next year.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last