Council plans a seminar on AFTA

Council plans a seminar on AFTA

JAKARTA: The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council announced on Thursday it would hold a one-day symposium on the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in Jakarta by the end of this month.

The council, which is based in Washington, said President Megawati Soekarnoputri would open the event, which would be organized by the council in cooperation with the ASEAN secretariat.

"This (AFTA) is an important development in ASEAN economic cooperation, which is a giant step for ASEAN to create an integrated production base and market for 500 million people," the council said, in a statement released in Washington, as quoted by Antara.

AFTA came into force on Jan. 1 this year in six ASEAN member countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei Darussalam. -- JP