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Jan
2013

Free Trade Agreements (FTA) in Asia and the Pacific

Free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia and the Pacific have proliferated in the past decade. The number of FTAs involving at least one country in the region has grown almost four-fold from 70 in 2002 to 257 in January 2013. This surge in FTAs has been driven by a significant increase in the number of FTAs that have been proposed or are under negotiation. In 2002, about a quarter of the FTAs in the region were in the proposal or negotiation stages; by January 2013, the share of these two categories had increased to almost half of the total. Of the 257 reported FTAs as of January 2013, 132 had been signed, with 109 already in effect. Reflecting a global trend in FTAs, bilateral (rather than plurilateral) FTAs comprise the majority of FTAs in Asia and the Pacific.

The views expressed in this blog post are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of ARIC, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ARIC does not guarantee the accuracy of the information and data included in this blog post and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with official ADB terms.

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