AFTA

• Asean Free Trade Area - is a trade bloc agreement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations supporting local trade and manufacturing in all ASEAN countries, and facilitating economic integration with regional and international allies. It stands as one of the largest and most important free trade areas (FTA) in the world.
• The AFTA agreement was signed on 28 January 1992 in Singapore.
• When the AFTA agreement was originally signed, ASEAN had six (6) members, namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• The primary mechanism for achieving such goals is the Common Effective Preferential Tariff scheme, which established a phased schedule in 1992 with the goal to increase the region’s competitive advantage as a production base geared for the world market.
• Vietnam joined in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999.