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Free trade agreements and Southeast Asia

Abstract This article shows how free trade agreements (FTAs) in Southeast Asia are essentially a means to secure foreign direct investment (FDI) at the expense of the working class. It explores the significance of FDI in export-oriented industrialisation and for economic transformation in Southeast Asia, with emphasis on the increasing global competition for FDI. As negotiations at the World Trade Organization are uncertain, an intricate web of bilateral and regional FTAs has arisen over the past decade as states and business seek to revitalize competitiveness. These FTAs have a high potential for negative effects on workers, particularly in labour-intensive industries. This is best exemplified by Mexico's ten-year experience with NAFTA The Thailand-US FTA negotiations are a case study indicating that FTAs are more compatible with authoritarian labour control, increasing poverty, job displacement, and weakening of the development process than with sustainable development.