Economy
Vietnam, EFTA nations sign free trade deal
Vietnam and four European nations outside the EU bloc inked a free trade agreement (FTA) in Hanoi on Sunday, seeking to diversify their markets and strengthen cooperation as U.S. tariff pressures and tensions continue to disrupt global commerce.
The deal, between Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economy and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, eliminates or reduces customs duties, including on imports of industrial, fish and agricultural products.
The deal was signed in the capital in the presence of Vietnam’s top leader To Lam and representatives of EFTA governments.
Vietnam said the agreement showed the parties’ resolve to “reinforce the rules-based trading system amid continued volatility in the global economy,” according to a government statement.
It was also expected to help Vietnam “diversify its import and export markets” and “integrate more deeply into global value chains,” the government said.
Vietnam and EFTA concluded negotiations in July, more than a decade after the free trade talks officially began in 2012.
The parties relaunched negotiations in September last year, after they had stalled since 2018.
The agreement followed a global trade-disrupting tariff blitz by the U.S. under President Donald Trump, which has left Vietnam with a hefty tax on its U.S. exports amid ongoing negotiations with Washington.
Experts say the new deal reflected a shared initiative to diversify commercial ties and reduce reliance on major trading partners.
“As the U.S. increasingly exerts trade pressure on European countries, the agreement is a joint effort to turn economic integration into greater strategic autonomy and to develop alternative commercial relationships rather than relying exclusively on their largest partners,” history and politics scholar Do Dinh Lam Khang told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
For Vietnam, closer ties with EFTA economies could support its ambition to move into higher-value-added activities, Khang added.
The agreement covers trade in goods and services, intellectual property rights, trade remedies and sustainable development, among other areas, both parties say.
Bilateral trade between the EFTA and Vietnam last year was valued at 4.8 billion euros ($5.4 billion), according to the association.
Electrical and mechanical machinery, fish and pharmaceutical products were the EFTA nations’ top exports to Vietnam last year.
Machinery, footwear and apparel were manufacturing hub Vietnam’s major exports to the EFTA.
The association was created as a counterpart to the European Economic Community (EEC), precursor of the European Union, which its four member states are close to, but have not joined.
Paris and Milan stocks spearheaded a decline in European markets on Monday, as intensifying violence in France and street clashes in Italy’s financial hub heightened concerns about mounting debt levels.
Most sectors were dragged lower, while there was renewed selling of bonds and the euro.
However, tech stocks led a rebound on Wall Street on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite climbing 1.0% as trading got underway in New York.
“There was no mistaking that last week was a tough week for the semiconductor and AI trade,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
Concerns about rising investment costs and whether the vast sums pumped into the sector would see a return dominated sentiment, with investors dumping the stocks and bonds of a company providing computing power for AI firms.
“Staying true to form, though, there is a buy-the-dip bid in those stocks this morning,” O’Hare added.
Whether that rebound continues may depend on tech firm earnings and their message about AI investment as more companies report their third-quarter earnings this week.
“Earnings this week will be crucial to broader risk sentiment. In particular, (Facebook parent) Meta is in focus as the first of the five major hyperscalers to report,” said Saxo UK investor strategist Neil Wilson.
‘Worst of it’
In Europe, Paris stocks dropped 1.7% and Milan fell 1.8% in afternoon trading.
“European shares were broadly weaker, but France and Italy are getting the worst of it,” noted Saxo’s Wilson.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday slammed the “unbridled” violence that erupted alongside cost-of-living demonstrations across the country, as police battled protesters and looters in new clashes in Paris.
Nearly 2,400 people were arrested Saturday in unrest that represented some of the worst urban violence in France in years, with almost 1,000 police injured, the interior ministry said.
It comes as the country’s lawmakers wrangle over a 2027 budget plan that calls for billions of euros in spending cuts but which keeps France’s debt levels extremely high.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was holding a security meeting Monday to address the Milan violence, which resembled some scenes of chaos and looting in Paris.
Oil prices pulled back Monday on signs that supplies continued to leave the Middle East despite Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on key Saudi Arabian crude sites.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to waive a new package of energy sanctions on Russia also weighed on oil futures, according to analysts.
Jakarta’s stock market sank over 5% on Monday, extending Friday’s plunge of more than 11%, to close at its lowest level in six years.
It came after index compiler MSCI said it was “no longer appropriate” to maintain the country’s emerging-market status, fuelling fears of an exodus of foreign investment.
The head of the Turkish capital markets regulator stepped down on Monday, citing health problems while the country’s deputy finance minister has asked to retire with immediate effect, media reports said.
The chief of the Capital Markets Board (SPK), Mahmut Sütçü, who assumed the post earlier this year, resigned, reports, including Anadolu Agency (AA), said.
Deputy Treasury and Finance Minister Osman Çelik has also tendered his resignation to the Treasury chief, Mehmet Şimşek, according to the information obtained from ministry sources.
The departures come amid the last month’s turmoil affecting Türkiye’s investment fund industry.
The crisis began after several funds said they could not meet investors’ redemption requests during a market sell-off. That prompted a wide investigation into suspected price manipulation in a number of thinly traded stocks.
SPK quickly suspended trading in 131 funds run by seven asset management companies and placed them into liquidation, affecting nearly half a million investors.
Authorities have also established a special board to coordinate the process and the board held its sixth meeting on Sunday, the Communications Directorate said.
The Turkish main stock index BIST 100 dropped 2.49% to close at 11.430,14 points on Monday.
Muhamad Yasin, a 63-year-old parking attendant in central Jakarta, says he has cut back on meals as rising prices have put food staples beyond his reach.
“I used to be able to get rice, tempeh and tofu for 7,000 to 8,000 rupiah ($0.39 to $0.44). Now it’s 15,000 rupiah,” said Yasin, who earns 200,000 to 300,000 rupiah a week, beside the minimarket where he watches over parked motorcycles.
Global food inflation is poised to accelerate in the coming months and persist well into 2027, as war-related shipping disruptions and El Nino-driven drought squeeze cereal supplies, putting additional pressure on vulnerable consumers like Yasin, a father of four.
In Indonesia, rice prices have already jumped to record highs amid forecasts of delayed rains, while the cost of bread in Egypt has risen by a quarter and sugar prices in India hit an all-time high as the weakest monsoon in over a decade curbed production.
“All this has put considerable pressure on the system,” said Maximo Torero, chief economist at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“We will see a bigger impact towards the end of the year, at the beginning of next year and potentially throughout next year.”
The world’s poorest consumers are being hit the hardest as food prices rise sharply in low- and middle-income countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, where food accounts for a larger share of household spending.
According to the World Bank, food prices in the September quarter outpaced headline inflation in 22% of the 150 countries it analysed, up from 14% in the previous quarter.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded commodities, averaged 136 points in September, the highest reading since November 2022.
Rising prices heighten the risk of social unrest and could prompt governments that are key suppliers to impose export bans, further exacerbating shortages.
Multiple supply shocks
Attacks on Black Sea grain infrastructure have disrupted wheat shipments, forcing top importers Egypt and Indonesia to seek alternative supplies, while Red Sea insecurity diverts vessels onto longer, costlier routes around Africa.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has raised fuel prices and disrupted fertilizer exports through the Strait of Hormuz, driving up farming costs even as dry El Nino weather reduces output in India and Southeast Asia.
Wheat prices are up more than 30% in 2026, while rice prices in key Asian exporting countries have risen 10% to 13% in spite of large inventories. Fertilizer prices are off the peaks reached earlier in the Iran war, but they remain elevated.
“Rising inflation, particularly food inflation, is a reality,” said Manish Tiwary, chair and managing director of Nestle India, citing “a challenging environment” that is due in part to higher commodity costs.
In Egypt, prices of unsubsidized bread have risen to around 5 Egyptian pounds ($0.093) for a big loaf from 4 pounds in July, while the price of cooking oil has climbed about 40% in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Vegetable oil in Indonesia has jumped 7% this year, even though the country is the world’s biggest palm oil producer.
Prices of sugar, onions and pulses in India jumped more than 10% in September from a month earlier due to production shortfalls.
For baker Sayed Abdel Hamid Mohamed in downtown Cairo, it is not just the price of flour.
“If you bring in a skilled worker, it costs you a lot,” he said. “Electricity, water, yeast and the materials we use to produce the loaf of bread for consumers have all risen.”
Tarek Azab, a customer at the bakery, said prices have been continuously rising, “not once, twice, or three times,” in the past few years.
Freight rates have risen about 50% on some key global routes such as the Black Sea to Southeast Asia as oil prices and war premiums surge.
Inflation catalyst
While food prices have been rising since late 2025, dwindling local supplies and higher commodity costs feeding through to consumers threaten to accelerate inflation.
Key importers in the Middle East and Africa that held off on buying after strong local harvests now need to return to the world’s markets, potentially triggering a surge in demand.
“In a couple of months, there could be a significant new wave of demand as importers return to the market,” said Alexander Karavaytsev, a senior economist at the International Grains Council in London.
The cushion from record global grain inventories is wearing thin, the FAO’s Torero said.
“Stocks and good harvests in previous seasons have provided a buffer, but those buffers are starting to come under pressure,” he said. “That means commodity price increases could become more pronounced.”
Food processors that typically buy raw materials on three- to six-month contracts are now renewing those deals at higher prices, with weaker local currencies magnifying the costs.
“Shipping costs have also increased and when converted into rupiah, the impact is amplified by the weakening of the Indonesian currency,” said Franciscus Welirang, a director of PT Indofood, the country’s largest food company.
On top of higher prices, food processors are experiencing difficulties in securing supplies, traders said.
Several wheat millers in Indonesia are running their units below capacity as the Russia-Ukraine war has reduced cargo arrivals, said a senior executive at a flour milling company in Jakarta who did not want to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Indonesian wheat arrivals dropped 41% to 491,000 metric tons in September from a year earlier, Kpler data showed.
For now, soybean and corn inventories are ample, with future supplies hinging on production in the U.S. and South America, although higher oil prices have supported both crops because of their growing use in biofuels.
Favorable Southern Hemisphere wheat harvests are expected, and any downside risk to output in exporters like Australia and Argentina could add a new bullish element to prices, the IGC’s Karavaytsev said.
“There is significant upside risk in prices,” he said.
Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli announced Monday it was parting ways with chief executive Adalbert Lechner after issuing two revenue warnings within a year.
The board of directors said new leadership was needed to put the company, known for its Lindor chocolate truffles and chocolate Easter bunnies, back on a path to sustained growth.
“The Board of Directors has concluded that Lindt & Sprüngli requires new operational leadership to return to consistent, strong growth and to capture opportunities in all its markets globally,” the company said in a statement.
Former chief executive Dieter Weisskopf, 71, will take over as interim CEO with immediate effect, the company said in a statement from its headquarters in Kilchberg, Switzerland.
Weisskopf, who is also vice chair of the board of directors, previously served as the company’s chief financial officer for many years and led the group until 2022.
A permanent successor is expected to be appointed in the second quarter of 2027.
Lechner, 65, had worked for Lindt for 33 years and took over as chief executive in early 2022. The company provided no further details about the circumstances of his departure.
Executive chair Ernst Tanner thanked Lechner for his contribution to the company and expressed confidence in its future.
“Our brands and market positions are strong, and our focus continues to be on delivering exceptional products and experiences for our consumers and on profitable growth for our shareholders,” Tanner said.
Lindt & Sprüngli has been struggling with declining sales volumes for months after sharply raising prices in response to soaring cocoa costs.
The company increased prices by an average of 11.8% in the first half of 2026, while the volume of products sold fell significantly.
In July, Lindt reported slightly higher first-half earnings but said its performance had been affected by higher prices, geopolitical tensions, market volatility and inflation.
Consumers in Germany, Switzerland and Britain proved more sensitive to the higher prices than expected, prompting Lindt to begin cutting prices on selected products over the summer. The company has also introduced smaller packaging.
In late September, Lindt lowered its sales forecast for the second time this year. It now expects organic sales growth of just 0% to 2% in 2026, down from its original forecast of 6% to 8%.
In addition to higher prices, summer heat in Europe weighed on business. The revised outlook triggered a sharp fall in the company’s share price.
Weisskopf will now focus on restoring growth in Europe, while increasing investment in the company’s brands and improving profitability. Business in North America and Asia has been performing significantly better.
Lindt is also replacing the head of its German operations.
Michal Spiller is leaving the company after 23 years and will be succeeded by Ali Kulein, who currently heads Lindt’s Austrian business.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost in German industry since 2019, according to new figures published Monday, as manufacturers grapple with mounting competitive pressure.
German industrial businesses employed some 496,000 fewer people at the end of 2025 compared to the start of 2019, a decline of 7.1%, according to a survey conducted by the ifo Institute economic think tank.
Employment is shrinking in almost all industrial sectors, which is likely a result of declining competitiveness, particularly against China, the study said.
The core automotive industry, long considered the backbone of Europe’s biggest economy, has been particularly hard hit, with 123,500 job cuts across carmakers and suppliers, a decline of 13%.
Metal businesses also shed jobs, employing 115,600 fewer workers, while 64,500 jobs have been cut across the machinery sector, according to ifo.
These three sectors account for around 60% of the cuts, according to calculations.
By contrast, over 2.2 million additional jobs have been created in the service sector since 2019, mainly in health, social services and public administration, the institute found.
Ifo counted 391,000 new jobs in the health sector and another 357,000 additional posts in social services, including care homes, pointing to Germany’s ageing population.
Joachim Ragnitz, managing director at ifo, said that the development reflected an “accelerated structural shift” in Germany.
“Ironically, the very sectors that have sustained our prosperity up to now are shrinking,” he said.
“The new jobs are for the most part not being created where Germany is especially productive and innovative. That may slow down our growth potential in the future.”
Every child in the United States will be given a share in rocket company SpaceX, tech billionaire Elon Musk announced Monday.
“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America,” Musk, the richest man in the world, said on the social media platform X.
“This will be the first of many,” he said, without providing details about how the scheme would work.
There are around 73 million children under the age of 18 in the United States, according to 2024 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Musk owns 38% of SpaceX, according to Forbes.
His announcement comes after President Donald Trump promised last month to give every American adult $5,000 if his Republican party retains control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
SpaceX set the record for the largest initial public offering in history, raising $85.7 billion in June.
The company’s Starship megarocket reached orbit for the first time in September, a milestone for the rocket central to Musk’s Mars ambitions.
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