ASEAN Economic Bulletin 194 Vol. 26, No. 2, August 2009 ASEAN Economic Bulletin Vol. 26, No. 2 (2009), pp. 194–214 ISSN 0217-4472 print / ISSN 1793-2831 electronic © 2006 ISEAS DOI: 10.1355/ae26-2e RESEARCH NOTES ASEAN’s Bilateral Preferential Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreements Implications for Asian Economic Integration Rahul Sen and Sadhana Srivastava The phenomenon of proliferation of preferential trade agreements, bilaterally and regionally, was particularly more pronounced both in the aftermath of the regional financial and economic crisis that affected East Asia in 1997–98 and in the inability of the WTO to yield any substantial outcome to improve growth prospects of the Asian economies. This paper analyses the implications of ASEAN’s ongoing FTAs and examines its role in fostering deeper economic integration within ASEAN and in Asia. It analyses the evolution and characteristics of FTA proliferation in ASEAN, identifying major trends. The paper argues that in their present state, if not properly designed and managed, there are valid concerns that these FTAs could end up becoming a stumbling block towards integration efforts. Implementation integrity among FTA members therefore remains a key to its success, and empirical and policy research needs to be much more forthcoming in this area in order to fully understand the economic ramifications of these FTAs. Keywords: Free trade agreements, economic integration, ASEAN. I. Introduction While a contentious debate continues to stall the multilateral trade talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO), a plethora of bilateral and regional trading and economic cooperation agreements have been mushrooming globally, and increasingly in the Asia-Pacific, generating a wave of “new regionalism” in Asia (World Bank 2004). This phenomenon was particularly more pronounced both in the aftermath of the regional financial and economic crisis that affected East Asia in 1997–98 and in the inability of the WTO to yield any substantial outcome to improve growth prospects of the Asian economies. “New