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A Korean-American strand enters trade's spaghetti bowl - Martin Wolf's blog, with comments from Robert Wade, Andre Sapir, Fred Bergsten, Jagdish Bhagwati, Carla Hills, David Vines, Joe Francois - 

FTAAP - Rationale and Feasibility (presentation at seminar organized by ISEAS) - Robert Scollay (2007) (pdf format)

Preliminary Assessment of the Proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP): Robert Scollay (2004) (pdf format)

East Asian Regionalism & the Doha Agenda: Addressing the Hard Questions: Jean-Pierre Lehmann (PECC XVI GM: Plenary 2: Squaring FTAs with the Bogor Goals (pdf format)

Squaring FTAs with the Bogor Goals: How can it be done? Mari Pangestu, (PECC XVI GM: Plenary 2: Squaring FTAs with the Bogor Goals (pdf format)

A New Strategy for APEC: C Fred Bergsten (PECC XVI GM: Plenary 2: Squaring FTAs with the Bogor Goals (pdf format)

icon Building Momentum: The Movement Toward Pacific Economic Cooperation Prior to 1980 (53.29 kB): Mark Borthwick (in "The Evolution of PECC: The First 25 years, PECC 2005) [for background on original PAFTA and OPTAD concepts)

icon Assessing Regional Trading Arrangements in the Asia-Pacific (206.33 kB), John Gilbert, Washington State University, US, Robert Scollay, APEC Study Center, University of Auckland, Bijit Bora, Trade Analysis Branch, UNCTAD (PECC Trade Policy Forum, 2001, Bangkok)

Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific PDF Print E-mail
Overview

The proposal for a regional free trade agreement is the oldest idea for promoting mutual beneficial Asia-Pacific regional cooperation. Japanese economist Kiyoshi Kojima is usually credited with first Pacific Free Trade agreement proposal in 1966, and, while that proposal was clearly premature and unrealistic, it enhanced awareness of regional interdependencies and potentials for increased benefit through cooperation, and eventually led to the establishment of both the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and to the APEC process.

In more recent times, economist C. Fred Bergsten has been the foremost advocate of a Free Trade Agreement of Asia-Pacific. His paper, prepared as part of this study, provides a most comprehensive and forceful statement in favor of an FTAAP. The most direct and comprehensive rebuttal to the proposal comes political scientist, Vinod Aggarwal. Based on an analysis of the American political economy. Dr. Aggarwal argues that selective liberalization through sector and bilateral trade agreements has rewarded freer trade interests, but left trade policy dominated by protectionist interests.
Project Team
  • Dr Charles E. Morrison, President, East West Center
  • Dr C. Fred Bergsten, Director of the Institute for International Economics
  • Prof Shujiro Urata, Shujiro Urata is Professor of Economics at Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University
  • Prof Sheng Bin, Professor at APEC Study Centre, Nankai University, China and has been Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Economics.
  • Prof Vinod Aggarwal, Vinod Aggarwal is a Professor of Political Science at Haas School of Business & Director of the APEC Centre at the University of Berkeley California
  • Dr Sherry Stephenson, Acting Director of the Department of Trade, Tourism and Competitiveness at the Organization of American States (OAS)
  • Dr Robert Scollay, Associate Professor and Director of APEC Study Centre at the University of Auckland.
  • Dr Chia Siow Yue, Senior Research Fellow, Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
  • Dr Hadi Soesastro, Executive Director and Senior Economist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.