ABSTRACT
Since the early 1990s there has been a concerted movement towards freer, if not free, trade in East Asia. Berg and Krueger (2003) show that individual countries in the region have achieved a great deal in reducing tariffs and lowering non-tariff barriers. In parallel with unilateral trade liberalization, East Asian countries have mounted collective efforts for region-wide free trade. In 1993, ASEAN states agreed to establish an ASEAN free trade area (AFTA). By 2003 they had managed to reduce tariffs to a maximum of five per cent among the original six members, despite a number of exceptions, and brought four new members into AFTA. In 1995, APEC leaders proposed a plan for bringing about free trade in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010/2020 in what is known as the Bogor Goal.
