October 7, 2003 - ASEAN Concord II Signed

The Jakarta Post, October 6, 2003

Leaders of 10 Southeast Asian nations ranging from fledgling democracies to an absolute monarchy signed a landmark accord Tuesday aimed at wrestling their disparate region into a European-style economic community by 2020.

The blueprint, dubbed the Bali Concord II, envisions a single market eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers within an economic grouping encompassing 500 million people and annual trade totaling US$720 billion.

"We have just witnessed a watershed in the history of ASEAN," Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri said.