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Signing on to liberalization: AFTA and the politics of regional economic cooperation

From the inception of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967 to 1991 economic cooperation among its members was virtually non-existent. However, in January 1992 the leaders of the member states agreed to work towards an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Following an uncertain initial phase the leaders rededicated themselves in 1995 to an accelerated implementation of the AFTA agreement. The key to the change in policy and to the relatively successful implementation of AFTA was the shift in the domestic balance of power in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand from economic nationalists to liberal reformers. This occurred as the result of a series of recessions and booms that affected the economies of the region from the early 1980s onwards. Also crucial to the successful implementation of AFTA was the distinctive approach to regional cooperation that has developed among the ASEAN members.