Ganeshan Wignaraja Edited By Masahiro Kawai Asia's Free Trade Agreements

Annotation

The spread of Asia`s free trade agreements (FTAs) has sparked an important debate on the impact of such agreements on business activity. This pioneering study uses new evidence from surveys of East Asian exporters - including Japan, the People`s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea and three ASEAN economies of the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - to shed light on the FTA debate. Critics are concerned that FTAs erode the multilateral trading process and foster an alarming `noodle bowl` of overlapping regulations and rules of origin requirements - which may be costly to business. Asia`s Free Trade Agreements makes key recommendations for improving business use of FTA preferences, reducing costs of FTAs and creating a region-wide FTA. This well-researched and documented book will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students in international business, international economics, economic development, public administration and public policy. Academics, researchers and members of think-tanks around the world will also benefit from this book as will trade negotiators and trade policy officials from developed and developing countries.