ASEAN Free Trade Area#ASEAN Plus Three

ASEAN Plus Three ( in German: ASEAN plus Three ) is the name for joint conferences of the ten ASEAN countries of south-east Asia with China, South Korea and Japan. The Panel was established in December 1997 in Kuala Lumpur. It is the first regional organization that includes only East Asian countries. Japan's commitment to establish such an organization can be seen as the main driving force for the development of ASEAN Plus Three. ASEAN Plus Three is also a reaction to the failure of ASEAN and APEC, East Asia to provide a common voice (see also ASEAN Summit 2009). Richard Stubbs believes that ASEAN Plus Three will become the key regional organization in East Asia.

On 6 May 2000, the ASEAN Plus Three finance ministers meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand adopted the so-called Chiang Mai Initiative.

Will be sought free trade agreements between ASEAN and Japan and South Korea, which are to be completed by 2012. For an agreement with South Korea and Japan in particular, the agricultural sector was a topic of debate, South Korea already agreed before a free trade agreement to which ausnahm all important agricultural products, Japan 's strategy was initially to conclude bilateral agreements with individual ASEAN member states. The first free trade area came with the People's Republic of China on January 1, 2010.