ABSTRACT
The ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) is a regional agreement on trade co-operation in services involving the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This chapter compares the regional market access commitments made by individual ASEAN countries under the AFAS to their corresponding Gats commitments in financial services. If one compares the various specific AFAS commitments offered by the ASEAN economies, the content of services trade liberalisation in most of these countries may at best be termed as weak. None of the ASEAN countries have offered commitments in all the sub-sectors of financial services. The widest coverage of sub-sector commitments is observed in the case of Vietnam, which incidentally is yet to become a member of the WTO. The other regional countries that are signatories to the Gats have been very cautious in committing themselves to Gats-plus offers under the AFAS and have made little progress in liberalising trade in financial services at the regional level.
