Realising the AEC
Initiatives towards the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) can be traced back to as early as 1992 when ASEAN leaders mandated the creation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).
In 2003, ASEAN leaders agreed to build-on the momentum and progress it gained in AFTA and other efforts to broaden and deepen regional cooperation. Through Bali Concord II, ASEAN leaders committed to maximize opportunities for mutually beneficial regional integration and declared the AEC as one of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community, the two other being Political-Security Community and Socio-Cultural Community. Succeeding years saw the signing of several regional cooperation agreements, some of which replaces or improves earlier agreements, to support the realisation of the economic community.