How wrong they were. Beginning with the decision to create an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA, 1992), a process which will be completed shortly, ASEAN leaders have progressively launched various initiatives to deepen regional economic integration. The process has been unique in that it has been geared at not merely fostering intra-regional trade but also reducing transactions costs in the region to become more globally competitive. In this sense, ASEAN economic integration has always been outward-looking with a policy of ‘‘open regionalism’’ atits heart.