ASEAN framework deal with US may be disastrous to economy, warns IBON

The recently-signed trade and investment framework agreement (TIFA) between the US and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will sooner or later lead to a free trade agreement (FTA), and this will prove disastrous to the vulnerable sectors of the region, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

According to IBON research head Sonny Africa, underdeveloped countries entering into an FTA with industrial powers such as the US and Japan virtually surrender national development policy-making to the interests of transnational capital.