Free Trade Across the Asia Pacific

No Asian Century without full integration

The FTAAP is not just another effort to reduce tariffs; it seeks to create a massive free trade zone.

Internationally, the FTAAP could prove a way out from the WTO Doha round quicksand. It has potential to surpass the "noodle bowl" effect created by overlapping and conflicting elements in current free trade agreements.

Some three years ago, a report by the Asian Development Bank argued that an additional 3 billion Asians could enjoy living standards similar to those in Europe today by 2050, when the region could also account for over half of global output.

As global growth may be decelerating, such aspirations are not viable without broader and deeper economic integration in the Asia Pacific region. That, in turn, requires a regional trading bloc, which is not designed for only advanced or emerging economies but both.

The Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific fulfills both conditions. It could galvanize growth and prosperity in the Asia Pacific.

Source: China.org.cn