ATHENA TRADING BLOC by Mazlima Omar

ATHENA - TRADING BLOC TRIVIA

mazlima5 — 2021-05-05 06:06:53 UTC

One student, one padlet. Make it as interesting as possible for gaining the highest mark. Good Luck everyone

MERCOSUR Suspended Venezuela

2021-05-05 06:21:36 UTC

Student's Name: Puteri Amalina Binti Budi
Matric No: BA18110431
Trade Bloc: MERCUSOR

In 2012 Venezuela joined Mercosur’s four founding countries (Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina & Uruguay) as the full member. But was suspended unanimously in 2016 because of ‘rupture of the democratic order’. The decision was made based on ‘sanction of a political nature’ by the four founding members.

In April 2016, Venezuela was experiencing political and economic crisis when the new opposition ruled by opposition party was a non-democractic political transition which caused human rights violations among the public. Hence, the members of MERCUSOR suspended Venezuela's membership until democracy is restored.

NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA)

2021-05-05 06:42:48 UTC

NAMA: NURUL AFSARYNA BINTI SENIN
NO.MATRIK: BA18110518

KEBAIKAN DAN KEBURUKAN NAFTA

Walaupun NAFTA mempunyai peranan dalam menghapuskan tarif diantara negara Kanada, Amerika Syarikat dan Mexico, namun terdapat kebaikan dan keburukan NAFTA dalam beberapa aspek. Antara kebaikan NAFTA adalah menurunkan harga barangan. Sebagai contoh, Amerika Syarikat mengimport minyak dari Mexico hanya dengan harga yang murah disebabkan tarif yang dihapuskan oleh NAFTA. Hal ini, bukan sahaja mengurangkan kos perbelanjaan Amerika Syarikat terhadap pembelian minyak malahan ianya juga mengurangkan kebergantungan keperluan minyak dari Timur Tengah.

Namun demikian, NAFTA juga menimbulkan masalah kehilangan pekerjaan yang teruk. Pada tahun 2011, Insitut Dasar Ekonomi (EPI) menganggarkan sebanyak 682,900 bilangan kehilangan pekerjaan. Antara negeri yang paling teruk dilanda dengan masalah kehilangan pekerjaan ialah California, New York, Michigan dan Texas.

APEC~

2021-05-05 06:54:51 UTC

NAMA: WEZA ZULAIKHA BINTI WAKERAN
MATRIC NO: BA18160963
TRADE BLOC: Asia-Pacific Economic Coorperation (APEC)

APEC atau dikenali sebagai Kerjasama Ekonomi Asia Pasifik merupakan forum 21 ekonomi negara-negara Asia Pasifik yang juga dikenal sebagai "Ekonomi Anggota". Pada tahun 1980, Asia-Pac atau AsPac adalah istilah popular yang digunakan untuk menggambarkan Asia-Pasifik. Setiap tahun satu daripada 21 Anggota Ekonomi APEC akan menjadi tuan rumah mesyuarat APEC dan berfungsi sebagai Ketua APEC. Tetapi pada tahun 2019 tuan rumah pertemuan ini adalah Santiago, Chile. Namun begitu, pertemuan itu telah dibatalkan kerana berlakunya tunjuk perasaan dan rusuhan di Chile yang mana menyebabkan lebih kurang 18 kematian dan sekitar 7,000 penangkapan. Mesyuarat itu seharusnya membincangkan ekonomi digital, hubungan serantau, dan peranan wanita dalam pertumbuhan ekonomi.

COMESA

2021-05-05 06:57:58 UTC

NAMA : MAYGRACE ANAK MAGAI
NO. MATRIK : BA18110634
TRADE BLOC : COMESA

COMESA mempunyai satu program yang bernama Kad Kuning yang merupakan skim insurans kenderaan bermotor yang sah di semua negara yang mengambil bahagian. Ini merangkumi liabiliti pihak ketiga dan perbelanjaan perubatan untuk pemandu kenderaan dan penumpangnya sekiranya mereka mengalami kecederaan badan akibat kemalangan terhadap kenderaan yang diinsuranskan.

Things that NAFTA Does

2021-05-05 06:59:28 UTC

NAMA : IZZATI ZAKIRAH BINTI ZAMRI
NO MATRIK : BA18110629
TRADE BLOC: NAFTA

USA + Canada + Mexico

Co-signers are granted most-favored-nation status.
Exporters must obtain a Certificate of Origin in order to avoid tariffs under NAFTA.
Patents, trademarks, and copyrights must be respected by all NAFTA countries.
Taxes on imports and exports between the three countries are eliminated.
Develops procedures for resolving trade disagreements.

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

ba18110162 — 2021-05-05 07:08:16 UTC

NAME: NUR AMIZA NAJWA ZULKHIBREE
MATRIC. NO: BA18110162
TRADE BLOC: COMESA

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a free trade zone comprised of 21 member countries:

Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Geographically, COMESA is Africa's largest regional economic community, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the African continent with a land area of 12 million square kilometre.

In 2008 - COMESA agreed to form an African free trade zone with members from the other African trade blocs, the EAC and the SADC.

In 2009 - ACTESA (The Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa) was formed in June 2009 as a COMESA specialised agency to address staple food production and marketing in order to improve market access, food production, food efficiency and food trade barriers.

Pacific Alliance Organizational Institutions

ba18110486 — 2021-05-05 07:43:03 UTC

Name: Nurizzatulfitri Binti Mohlis
Matric No: BA18110486
Trade Bloc: Pacific Alliance (Spanish: Alianza del Pacifico)

The Pacific Alliance is a Latin American trade bloc made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, all of whom share a Pacific Ocean border.

The Lima Declaration formed a High-Level Group (GAN) made up of ministers and vice ministers of commerce, trade, and foreign affairs from member countries to achieve the Alliance's goal. Officials also act as national coordinators and work in 26 technical groups on topics such as innovation, labor, mining production, intellectual property, the environment and culture. Meetings are held by groups to assess and review progress or developments in their respective fields. These organizations may seek technical assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank.

2021-05-05 07:45:57 UTC

Name: Sitti Zarina Binti Alimuddin
Matric No. BA18110066
Trade Bloc: European Union (EU)

In recent years, the EU has signed a number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with forested countries and is currently negotiating more. These agreements jeopardize the EU's effort to combat climate change, halt deforestation, and uphold human rights. They exacerbate the burden on natural capital by the illicit mining, erosion, and land grabs fueled by agricultural growth. Deals that the EU is discussing with Indonesia and the Mercosur bloc (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay) are particularly surprising examples.

A General Info about the form of AFTA

2021-05-05 08:28:58 UTC

Name: Floviera Binti Wengki
Matric No: BA18110549
Trade Bloc: The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)

In response to the emerging regional grouping for trade between countries such as the EU and NAFTA, ASEAN members decided to form AFTA.

AFTA was formed in 1992 during the ASEAN fourth summit in Singapore. The ten members of ASEAN which are Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam agreed to sign the agreement involving phasing intra-regional tariffs down for a wide range of manufactured products through a mechanism called as Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme.
What is CEPT? All member states shall participate in the CEPT Scheme.CEPT is like a guide or mechanism in order for the state members to achieve the goals of AFTA. It basically aims to increase the region's competitive advantage as a production base for the world market.

Reference: https://asean.org/?static_post=agreement-on-the-common-effective-preferential-tariff-cept-scheme-for-the-asean-free-trade-area-afta

Mercosur

2021-05-05 08:54:57 UTC

Name: Annisa Haziqah Bt Abubakar
Matric No: BA18110551
Trade Bloc: Mercosur

1. The world's highest uninterrupted waterfall (Angel Falls in Venezuela),

2. The largest river by volume (Amazon River in Brazil)

3. The largest rainforest (Amazon Rainforest in Brazil)

4. The longest mountain range (Andes-Highest mountain is Aconcagua at 6,962m in Argentina)

ASEAN’s countries perception on Short Selling.

2021-05-05 10:54:24 UTC

Name: Medialin Elrna Anak Mukan
Matric No: BA16271080
Trade Bloc: ASEAN

Short Selling or Shorting is HARAM in Islam, thus many Islamic countries banned or restricts it.
Shorting contains three crucial elements that prohibits it from being applied in Islamic Finance:

1. Selling something a person does not own.
2. Riba.
3. It is a form of Al-Maisir (Gambling).

(Rakaan, K.2020)

Two of the ASEAN’s members with the highest Muslim population in the region; Malaysia and Indonesia have effectively restricted and banned the shorting of stocks.
Nonetheless, other non-Islamic ASEAN’s members too have taken up on the restriction and the banning of Short Selling, these are; Thailand and Philippines.

(Zaid Ibrahim & Co, 2020)

While Brunei Darussalam does not have Stock Exchange, the main investment institution; Brunei Investment Agency of the monarch too prohibits the shorting as part of their investment policies.

(Ahmed, H. Personal Communication, May 5th 2021.

Thus, it could be observed that the reception towards shorting the market is equally divided amongst the ASEAN members.

(ps. Please contact me if you would like to read the full references cited in this post)

APEC 2020 MALAYSIA

2021-05-05 12:48:59 UTC

Name: Nurul Hatiqah Binti Gol
Matric No: BA18110357
Trading Bloc: APEC

1. After 22 years in 2020, Malaysia once again hosted the APEC meeting and the most interesting is that for the first time Sabah was chosen as one of the venues for the APEC Second Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM2) where more than 1200 members of the delegation from 21 APEC member economies will come to Sabah. (Sadly COVID-19 has become pandemic even though everything has been planned by the government)

2. The member states during the meeting were not called or referred as state but as economies.

3. Bunga Raya which is the national flower is the inspiration for the logo in APEC 2020 carries the meaning of 'celebratory flower' to symbolize the celebration of unity and diversity.

*Picture is one of the venues (actually there are three venues so I choose this one) for the APEC meeting in Sabah: Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru

South Asian Free Trade Area

2021-05-05 15:57:56 UTC

Name: Dayang Nur Qamarina Syasya Binti Datu Maslan
Matric No: BA18161114
Trade Bloc: South Asian Free Trade Area

WHAT IS SAFTA?

SAFTA stands for The South Asian Free Trade Area! It is the free trade arrangement of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The agreement came into force as part of the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement of 1993 with countries such as India and Pakistan.

WHY WAS SAFTA CREATED?

The SAFTA was established to;

to raise the level of trade and economic cooperation between SAARC countries through tariff reduction and barriers and also to provide the SAARC nations with special preference to the Least Developed Countries (LCDs).
to build a mechanism for further regional cooperation.

On 1st Of July 2006, by restricting the concessions to only 773 products, Pakistan gave India a rude shock.

In 2019, Pakistan has suspended trade with India due to a breach of SAFTA Article 7.

European Free Trade Association

2021-05-05 16:09:23 UTC

Name: Junairy Bin Mohamad
Matric No: BA18110160
Trade Bloc: European Free Trade Association (EFTA)

• The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was founded on the premise of free trade as a means of achieving growth and prosperity amongst its Members States as well as promoting closer economic cooperation between the Western European countries.
• On 14 March 2016, EFTA launched a brochure linked to the negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Indonesia.

ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)

2021-05-06 00:38:25 UTC

Name: Nurhannani Binti Makmud
Matric No: BA18161017
Trade Bloc: AFTA

As we know, ASEAN was established on August 8th 1967 in Bangkok by five original member countries, which is Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand. When ASEAN was established, trade among member countries was insignificant. The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) was established in 1992. This agreement was aiming the elimination of tariff barriers among member countries and creating regional market of 500 million people. The Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) required that tariff collected on a wide range of products traded within the region be reduced five percent. It applied to all products from ASEAN member countries defined as those that had at least 40% ASEAN content. Other than that, almost more than 99 percent of the products in the CEPT Inclusion List (IL) of ASEAN-6, comprising Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, have now been brought down to the 0-5 percent tariff range. ASEAN new members including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam have also implemented their commitment on the CEPT scheme with 80 percent of their products having been moved into their CEPT Inclusion List.

BRICS

2021-05-06 01:56:28 UTC

Name : Nazirah Binti Abdul Ghafor

Matric No. BA18110625

Trade Bloc : BRICS

What is BRICS?

The BRIC countries label refers to a select group of four large, developing countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). In 2010, South Africa join the BRIC and the name changes to BRICS.

About BRICS.

📌All together the 5 country represent about 42% of the population, 23% of GDP, 30% of the territory and 18% of the global trade.
📌BRICS has created important institutions in 2014 which is the New Development Bank (NDB) and headquartered in Shanghai and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA).

Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

2021-05-06 04:45:10 UTC

Name: Dayangku Nazeerah Syazwani binti Ak Alliyuddin
Matrix Number: BA18161124
Trade Bloc: IORA

IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association)

The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) is a dynamic intergovernmental organisation with 23 Member States and 9 Dialogue Partners whose mission is to enhance regional cooperation and sustainable development in the Indian Ocean region.

Did you know?
- Women's empowerment is a key component of all project proposals in the IOR-six ARC's focus areas, as it helps to reduce unemployment and thus poverty in the region.
- With over 80% of the world's oil traded by sea and about 100,000 commercial ships passing through the Indian Ocean each year, it's clear that these sea lanes are among the most important in the world.

EU's strategies to reduce its dependence on imported goods from Asian countries

2021-05-06 09:18:22 UTC

Name: Gayathiri Parameswaran
Matrix Number: BA18110655
Trade Bloc: European Union

Ever since the pandemic started, many European counties had to rely on many Asian countries to import medical products, drugs, and raw materials to meet the demand in their local market. Approximately, 5,200 products were imported from many other Asian countries. This has raised the question as to whether European countries should start investing in local industries to manufacture such products.

The EU commission motivated many European countries to expand production in vital sectors. This pandemic has highlighted the importance of the remarkable dependence that these European countries had on Asian countries.

Theoretically, this suggestion proposed by the EU commission sounds too good to be true. This is because, according to Adam Smith's absolute advantage theory, a state should focus on manufacturing goods and services at a lower cost compared to other states. In this case, many European countries can produce the vaccine and build lab facilities for the production of the covid-19 vaccine in which many Asian countries are unable to do so. On the contrary, many Asian countries have the absolute advantage of manufacturing or producing raw material at a low cost that could supply to these European countries for a finished product.

Hence, looking from the theoretical perspective, the EU commission's suggestion should be more practical and realistic.

source: https://www.pakistanchristian.tv/the-european-union-wants-to-reduce-its-dependence-on-imports-of-strategic-products-from-china-and-other-countries/

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

2021-05-07 13:03:22 UTC

Name : Hasnani binti Abidin
Matrix Number : BA18110396
Trade Bloc : COMESA

ABOUT COMESA
COMESA began in December 1994 when it was formed to replace the former Preferential Trade Area (PTA). COMESA was established as an organisation of free independent sovereign states which have agreed to cooperate in developing their natural and human resources for the good of all their people. COMESA aim to promote regional integration through trade and the development of natural and human resources for the mutual benefit of all people in the region.

DID YOU KNOW?
- There are 19 countries in COMESA : Burundi, Comoros, D. R. Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- Tanzania withdrew its membership from COMESA in 2000 because it was a member of several regional economic integrations.
- President Rajoelina is the current Chairperson of the COMESA

ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA Council)

2021-05-07 14:45:41 UTC

Name: Mohd Najwan Sailie
No Matrix: BA18110187
Trade Bloc: AFTA

What is the purpose of AFTA?

The primary goals of AFTA seek to: Increase ASEAN's competitive edge as a production base in the world market through the elimination, within ASEAN, of tariffs and non-tariff barriers; and. Attract more foreign direct investment to ASEAN.

European Union (EU)

2021-05-07 21:23:48 UTC

Name: Abigail Basiau
Matric No: BA18110519
Trade Bloc: European Union (EU)

Here are some fun and interesting facts I found about EU:

- We start with the most normal one: EU is one of the most outward-oriented economies in the world and it is also the world's LARGEST single market area.
- Member countries are not forced to stay in the EU, you can leave anytime, just remember to inform them about it (cause it would be rude if you leave without telling).
- They have their own motto, flag, and song anthem! Their flag has 12 stars, thought to symbolize the first 12 countries that joined the EU (this was never confirmed though), their motto is: United in Diversity, and lastly, their anthem is: "Ode to Joy" From Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" composed in 1823.
- The EU won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2012! (Yes, a large governmental body collectively won the Peace Prize). They have contributed a lot towards peace and reconciliation.

This is where it gets interesting...
- The EU's criteria for materials allowed in toilet paper is almost 60% LONGER than the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
- Asia ships over 6,000 tonnes of frog's legs to EU, annually.
- You can't eat your pet horse in EU.
- They believe drinking water does nothing for your dehydration so they told bottled bottled water producers to not put labels on drinking water that can imply drinking water can help with dehydration.
- EU gave guidelines for how bananas and cucumbers should look. Growers were told to get rid of bananas that were too curvy or cucumbers that weren't straight enough. However this was back in 1995 and it took until 2008 for these instructions to be forgotten (can't throw out good food just because of how its looks)

COMESA ✨

2021-05-08 08:59:31 UTC

NAMA : MAYGRACE ANAK MAGAI
NO.MATRIK : BA18110634
TRADE BLOC : COMESA

COMESA mempunyai satu skim yang bernama Kad Kuning yang merupakan skim insurans kenderaan bermotor yang sah di semua negara yang mengambil bahagian. Ini merangkumi liabiliti pihak ketiga dan perbelanjaan perubatan untuk pemandu kenderaan dan penumpangnya sekiranya mereka mengalami kecederaan badan akibat kemalangan terhadap kenderaan yang diinsuranskan.

KEBAIKAN
Skim Kad Kuning mempunyai kebaikan untuk pengguna. Contohnya, menyediakan perlindungan insurans yang luas dan murah. Selain itu, skim ini juga membawa kebaikan kepada penanggung insurans ahli kerana adalah instrumen serantau yang diuji dengan dukungan pemerintah yang menyediakan mekanisme sederhana dan ekonomi untuk penanggung insurans memenuhi kehendak pemandu kenderaan antara negera. Seterusnya ialah kebaikan kepada negara anggota, skim ini menyediakan salah satu platform untuk integrasi serantau, perdagangan antara negera dan pada asasnya pergerakan kenderaan dan memudahkan proses sempadan.

Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)

2021-05-08 11:29:40 UTC

Mohammad Syaifuddinsyah bin Mohammad Najib
(BA18110397)

Do you know EAEU?

The Eurasian Economic Union is an international union of Eastern European, Western Asian, and Central Asian countries. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia signed the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union on May 29, 2014, and it went into effect on January 1, 2015.

EAEU has a 180 million-strong integrated single market with a gross domestic product of more than $5 trillion. The EAEU promotes the free flow of goods and services and establishes common policies in the areas of macroeconomics, transportation, industry and agriculture, oil, international exchange and finance, customs, technological control, competition, and antitrust.

In the future, provisions for a common currency and greater convergence are anticipated. Supranational and intergovernmental organizations are used to run the union. The Union's supreme body is the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which is made up of the heads of the Union's member states.

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council represents the second level of intergovernmental organizations (consisting of the Heads of the governments of member states).