ICTSD: EU’s Malmström Pushes for Deeper Trade Ties in Asia-Pacific Region

03/08/2017

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admin-wita

March 9 |

Boosting economic ties with the Asia-Pacific region is one of the main items on the EU trade docket this week, as the bloc’s top trade official travels to Singapore and the Philippines for talks on advancing various initiatives.

Visiting the city-state on Wednesday 8 March, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström told an audience at Singapore Management University that the EU is “pursuing an ambitious agenda of trade negotiations,” including within the region – and that doing so has become even more imperative in light of inward-focused rhetoric being expressed in many parts of the world.

“Even in some of the richest countries in the world who have long benefited from and championed trade, some blame trade for society’s ills – they hope to push the clock back against the changes they see in the world, thinking the answer is to close borders or to build walls,” she said.

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