The Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, the President of the Republic of the Philippines, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand:

REAFFIRMING their commitment to the ASEAN Declaration of 8 August 1967, the Declaration of ASEAN Concord of 24 February 1976, the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia of 24 February 1976, the 1977 Accord of Kuala Lumpur and the Manila Declaration of 15 December 1987;

DESIRING to enhance intra-ASEAN economic cooperation to sustain the economic growth and development of all Member States which are essential to the stability and prosperity of the region;

REITERATING their commitment to the principles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (hereinafter referred to as “GATT”);

RECOGNISING that tariff and non-tariff barriers are impediments to intra-ASEAN trade and investment flows, and that existing commitments to remove these trade barriers could be extensively improved upon;

NOTING the significant unilateral efforts made by Member States in recent years to liberalise trade and promote investments, and the importance of extending such policies to further open up their economies, given the comparative advantages and complementarity of their economies;

RECOGNISING that Member States, having different economic interests, could benefit from sub-regional arrangements;

CONSCIOUS of the rapid and pervasive changes in the international political and economic landscape, as well as both cohesive and effective performance of intra-ASEAN economic cooperation;

MINDFUL of the need to extend the spirit of friendship and cooperation among Member States to other regional economies, as well as those outside the region which contribute to the overall economic development of Member States;

RECOGNISING further the importance of enhancing other fields of economic cooperation such as in science and technology, agriculture, financial services and tourism;

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1: Principles

1. Member States shall endeavour to strengthen their economic cooperation through an outward-looking attitude so that their cooperation contributes to the promotion of global trade liberalisation.