trade agreements
The continuous engagement through economic diplomacy helps a country like Liberia in advancing its economic interests and equally and importantly, those of its partners. (...) Economic diplomacy pools skill personnel in government and the private sector to understand and negotiate trade, investment and economic issues from the national development perspective of a country’s strength, limitations, opportunities and threats.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a Washington audience on Wednesday that Russia’s absorption of Crimea is a “wake-up call” for his organization. The alarm had best ring loudly, because NATO has been sleeping deeply.
Behind the excitement is the sense that the Pacific Alliance is a hard-nosed business deal, rather than the usual gassy rhetoric of Latin American summitry. Under the leftist governments that rule in much of South America, there has been plenty of talk of regional integration, but precious little practice of it.
What is the American counter-move? The Obama administration devised a scheme for a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership that would exclude China. This magical sleight of hand is grounded in the imaginations of American policy-makers but not in reality.
Brazilian firms hope that their reputation will ensure that opportunities keep coming. They are keen to distinguish themselves from competitors, especially the Chinese. They do not want to be seen as grabbing everything they can, says Rodrigo da Costa Fonseca, Andrade Gutierrez’s president in Africa.
Pakistan and China Wednesday signed two agreements for cooperation in the economic, technological and cultural sectors. The first agreement “Economic and Technological Cooperation between Pakistan and China for a grant of 70 million RMB” was signed by Acting Secretary Economic Affairs Division Iftikhar Ahmad Rao and Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Jiang Zeng Wei.
The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan signed a long-awaited cooperation agreement on Thursday, paving the way for the resumption of oil exports and casting their ailing economies a desperately needed lifeline. But several analysts said the deal came up far short.
As Virginia’s economic development mission to Asia winds down, Gov. Bob McDonnell said that the state trade delegation’s gatherings have resulted in about six business agreements, with a particular focus on agricultural exports including some deals with Virginia ports.