Latest news with #Lowy Institute
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Australia should compromise to reach EU trade deal, says minister
Australia and the EU are expected to conclude the second phase of a trade pact by the end of the year. (EPA Images pic) CANBERRA : Australia should accept compromises to reach a trade deal with the EU and demonstrate that such agreements can still be reached in a more protectionist world, trade minister Don Farrell said today. Farrell said in a speech at the Lowy Institute in Sydney that free trade was under threat and that Australia should work with other countries to defend it. In a question and answer session after the speech, Farrell said Australia-EU trade negotiations that restarted this year would be successful and it was in both sides' national interest to make it so. 'It will require some compromises in our negotiations, but I think the imperative here is to show the rest of the world we're fair dinkum about free and open trade and we can do agreements with other countries,' he said, using an Australian phrase meaning honest, genuine or sincere. Asked if he meant that Australian industry would have to step up in the national interest, he said: 'I'm saying exactly that'. A previous attempt to reach a trade deal failed in 2023, with Canberra wanting more ability to sell farm goods in Europe. The EU is seeking greater access to Australian critical minerals and lower tariffs on manufactured goods. Farrell also said a trade agreement with India should be reached 'in the very near future'. The two countries are aiming to conclude the second phase of a trade pact by the end of the year. Australia is also seeking to negotiate with the US to reverse tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump and prevent new ones from being imposed. Yesterday, Canberra loosened biosecurity rules to allow greater access to US beef, though it said this was the result of a long-running scientific assessment rather than a part of trade talks.
South China Morning Post
7 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China promised the Philippines billions in development aid. Why did it fall so short?
China pledged US$30.5 billion in development aid to the Philippines between 2015 and 2023 – the most for any Southeast Asian country – but only a sliver of that funding ever arrived, according to new data from an Australian think tank report. Advertisement Of the total pledged, just US$700 million was actually disbursed – a shortfall analysts attribute to derailed infrastructure projects, changing political winds in Manila and rising tensions with Beijing. These factors have not only stalled flagship ventures under the Belt and Road Initiative but also cast doubt on the long-term viability of Chinese development finance in the region. The report by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, released on Sunday, found that while the Philippines received the highest total commitment from China among Southeast Asian nations, it ranked near the bottom in actual disbursements. Indonesia, by contrast, received and spent US$20.3 billion out of the US$20.7 billion Beijing had pledged, mostly on energy and transport projects. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (left) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2017. Duterte pursued closer ties with Beijing through a wave of high-profile infrastructure agreements. Photo: AP The bulk of China's pledged financing to the Philippines was made during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte , who held office from 2016 to 2022 and pursued closer ties with Beijing through a wave of high-profile infrastructure agreements.
France 24
20-07-2025
- Business
- France 24
Western aid cuts cede ground to China in Southeast Asia: study
The region is in an "uncertain moment", facing cuts in official development finance from the West as well as "especially punitive" US trade tariffs, the Sydney-based Lowy Institute said. "Declining Western aid risks ceding a greater role to China, though other Asian donors will also gain in importance," it said. Total official development finance to Southeast Asia -- including grants, low-rate loans and other loans -- grew "modestly" to US$29 billion in 2023, the annual report said. But US President Donald Trump has since halted about US$60 billion in development assistance -- most of the United States' overseas aid programme. Seven European countries -- including France and Germany -- and the European Union have announced US$17.2 billion in aid cuts to be implemented between 2025 and 2029, it said. And the United Kingdom has said it is reducing annual aid by US$7.6 billion, redirecting government money towards defence. Based on recent announcements, overall official development finance to Southeast Asia will fall by more than US$2 billion by 2026, the study projected. "These cuts will hit Southeast Asia hard," it said. "Poorer countries and social sector priorities such as health, education, and civil society support that rely on bilateral aid funding are likely to lose out the most." Higher-income countries already capture most of the region's official development finance, said the institute's Southeast Asia Aid Map report. Poorer countries such as East Timor, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are being left behind, creating a deepening divide that could undermine long-term stability, equity and resilience, it warned. Despite substantial economic development across most of Southeast Asia, around 86 million people still live on less than US$3.65 a day, it said. 'Global concern' "The centre of gravity in Southeast Asia's development finance landscape looks set to drift East, notably to Beijing but also Tokyo and Seoul," the study said. As trade ties with the United States have weakened, Southeast Asian countries' development options could shrink, it said, leaving them with less leverage to negotiate favourable terms with Beijing. "China's relative importance as a development actor in the region will rise as Western development support recedes," it said. Beijing's development finance to the region rose by US$1.6 billion to US$4.9 billion in 2023 -- mostly through big infrastructure projects such as rail links in Indonesia and Malaysia, the report said. At the same time, China's infrastructure commitments to Southeast Asia surged fourfold to almost US$10 billion, largely due to the revival of the Kyaukphyu Deep Sea Port project in Myanmar. By contrast, Western alternative infrastructure projects had failed to materialise in recent years, the study said. "Similarly, Western promises to support the region's clean energy transition have yet to translate into more projects on the ground -- of global concern given coal-dependent Southeast Asia is a major source of rapidly growing carbon emissions." © 2025 AFP
