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Wednesday, February 08, 2012 08:27 GMT

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Antigua Partners with EU for Emergency Docking Port
By Peter Richards
ST JOHN'S - The scars on the pilings adjacent to the new Emergency Ferry Docking Facility here are still visible, graphic evidence of the devastation caused by Hurricane Luis when it hit Antigua and Barbuda in 1995.
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TRADE
Europe Puts Foot Down on EPAs
By Servaas van den Bosch
WINDHOEK - Botswana and Namibia are set to lose preferential access to the European Union, which wants African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to sign controversial free trade agreements within two years or face potential loss of market access to the 27-member EU bloc.
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Namibia Wants to Conclude Talks and Sign EPAs
By Servaas van den Bosch
WINDHOEK - European Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht made a pit-stop in Windhoek to appease concerns over a troublesome economic partnership agreement (EPA) ahead of the Africa-European Union summit in South Africa.
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East Africa Wants to Trade Beyond the EU
By Wambi Michael
KAMPALA - The East African Community (EAC) and European Union head back to negotiations on Monday to resolve the controversy over the delay in signing an economic partnership agreement between the two trading blocs.
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TRADE
Southern Africa Has its Work Cut Out
By Servaas van den Bosch
CAPE TOWN - Southern Africa has moved forward with regional economic integration, but challenges remain, say trade experts.
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TRADE
Africa Still the Odd One Out
By Servaas van den Bosch
CAPE TOWN - While globally trade agreements are more and more about linking production chains between countries and continents, Africa remains locked in a struggle to overcome the colonial legacy of fragmentation, trade experts say.
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TRADE
Free Trade in Africa, For Better or Worse?
By Servaas van den Bosch
WINDHOEK - It is not certain that an African free trade area will further regional integration or deepen the existing inequality between countries.
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TRADE-NAMIBIA
No Progress on Access to European Markets
By Servaas van den Bosch
WINDHOEK - Weariness surrounds the negotiations on an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) regulating trade access between Southern Africa and the European Union (EU).
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CARIBBEAN
Key Committee Pushes Forward Trade Pact with Europe
By Peter Richards
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - The inaugural meeting of the Trade and Development Committee (TDC) of a sweeping trade pact between Caribbean nations and the European Union is being hailed as a success by regional diplomats.
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CARIBBEAN
EU Trade Pact Brings Both Setbacks and Opportunities
By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - In his first address to the board of governors of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Warren Smith, the new president of the region's premier lending financial institution, warned of insecurities engulfing Caribbean economies.
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TRADE
Istanbul Conference "a Setback" for Poor Countries
By Isolda Agazzi
GENEVA - Some of the decisions taken on trade in the Istanbul Plan of Action are likely to disadvantage poor countries while others are so vague as to be meaningless, says Abdoulaye Sanoko, counsellor at the mission of Mali to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva.
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Caribbean Struggles to Make Complex Trade Deal with EU a Reality
By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - When Caribbean journalists met in Antigua in late March to discuss the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) that was signed between the European Union and the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) countries in 2008, they were told that the absence of tax treaties, foreign exchange controls and language barriers were among the factors preventing the full implementation of the accord.
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YEMEN
Youth Want New Faces and a New Modern Country
By Yazeed Kamaldien
SANA'A - Yemen’s young anti-government protesters have learnt a vital lesson about the world of politics during their seemingly endless revolution - betrayal is inevitable.
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TRADE
"A Doha Round Collapse Is a Betrayal of Poor Countries"
By Isolda Agazzi
GENEVA - "It would be bad news for poor countries in Africa if the Doha Round of trade talks fails. This round was meant to rebalance the rules of world trade in favour of developing countries. We have put a lot of resources and hopes into this process and a collapse would be a big betrayal for us."
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Dominican Republic Seeks Greater Autonomy for CARIFORUM
By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - The first public hint that something was amiss within the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) bloc came last week from Belize's foreign minister, Wilfred Elrington, when his country hosted the 18th meeting of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Council of Ministers, the second highest body within the 15-member regional grouping.
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The Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the former colonies of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific region (ACP) are supposed to be in place soon. According to Brussels, they are an opportunity for these countries to shun isolation and expand access to international markets. But the ACP countries are anxious about being strangled by EPA rules.