Disentangling Market Access Effects of Preferential Trading Arrangements with an Application for ASEAN Members under an ASEAN-EU FTA

摘要

In May 2007, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers and the European Union Commission agreed to enter into free trade area (FTA) negotiations on a region-to-region instead of a bilateral approach that would take into account the different levels of development of ASEAN members. These negotiations were launched against a backdrop of falling trade shares between the two regions (according to the ASEAN statistical yearbook, the EU share of the ASEAN-6 exports fell from 15.3 per cent in 2001 to 13.2 per cent in 2004 while the corresponding ASEAN import shares fell from 12.6 per cent to 11.3 per cent).