In addition to an internal FTA among the member states (ASEAN Free
Trade Area, or AFTA), which was upgraded to the ASEAN Trade in Goods
Agreement (ATIGA) in 2010, ASEAN and its Member States are also party to
numerous bilateral and regional FTAs, as well as participating in other regional trade
arrangements beyond that of ASEAN, such as, inter alia, the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Despite progress on economic integration processes within ASEAN, as well
as between ASEAN and AMS with other non-ASEAN countries, there are concerns
over the extent to which micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) have
benefited from these commercial pacts. Numerous studies, such as Kawai and
Wignaraja (2008; 2009; 2010), Chia (2010), Dagooc (2013), and Chandra (2014)
suggest that the utilisation rates of these commercial pacts are relatively low among
MSMEs.