Comments.

The author comments on an article by Siow Yue Chia on free-trade agreements (FTA) and other regional integration initiatives in East Asia in general and in Southeast Asia in particular. He disagrees with Siow's claim that East Asia is catching up with the rest of the world in establishing FTAs, rather, it is more correct to say that East Asia is ahead of the rest of the world, not in the depth on integration but certainly in the number of FTAs. He also notes that regionalism can be a second-best solution when multilateral trade liberalization fails.