4. Concluding remarks
From the above analysis, we find that using the EU’s GSP to enhance the export growth has very limited effectiveness. Although the total EU imports from these ASEAN countries have experienced a significant increase during 1990-2007, but the EU preferential imports under the GSP scheme remained stagnant at the same period. However, the least developed ASEAN members such as Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam reported very high utilization rates and successfully exploited GSP preferences for expanding their exports into the European market. Cambodia and Laos benefited mostly from the extensive product coverage and duty-free market access under the EBA arrangement. At the sector level, the EU preferential imports of industrial products from the ASEAN members has benefited mostly from the EU’s GSP scheme and considerably contributed to their export growth. But the benefits for the agricultural and textile sectors showed very limited growth, as EU still remained a restricted market access to them. Despite that, the agricultural sector showed highest utilization rate and it reflected the relatively high use of GSP preferences compared to other two sectors.