Why could ASEAN agree to the establishment of AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area) in a short time, comparing with PTA (Preferential Trading Arrangements) which had been agreed previously? In other words, why did ASEAN need to agree to the Free Trade Agreement in a short time? In addition, why wouldnot AFTA be realised on schedule?
To give answers to these questions, this article focus on arguments as follows:
1) To compare AFTA with Economic Cooperation scheme before AFTA: Especially, I focus on the difference between AFTA and PTA which has been improved at ASEAN Manila Summit in 1987. As I try to gine light on the character of AFTA, the agreement of AFTA is not necessarily the best choice for economic cooperation.
2) To argue the implication between the agreement of AFTA and the agreement of NAFTA (The North American Free Trade): I try to regard the agreement of AFTA as a policy resposnse to the agreement of NAFTA.
3) To argue the implication between the implementation of the CEPT (Common Effective Preferential Tariff) scheme for AFTA and the trade liberalization among APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) members: I try to regard the implementation of the CEPT scheme for AFTA as a policy response to the legalistic and institutional approach prefered by Americans for trade liberalization among APEC members.
This article concludes that AFTA is not a means of trade liberalization in ASEAN, but the political instrument to effect trade liberalization in the Asia Pacific Region. Therefore, ASEAN may be the regime which cooperates with each other to deal with external countries.
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