Singapore 258508 Fax: (65) 476-9080

The U.S. Commercial Service, the business solutions unit of the Commerce Department, helps U.S. companies make their first international sale or expand their markets overseas. Assistance includes identifying best markets, effective market strategies, distribution channels, pricing, and overseas representation.

With its mission to promote United States exports and support United States' business interests, the US & Foreign Commercial Service offers a wide variety of programs and activities to help American companies prosper in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economies. Currently, ASEAN is focusing on Singapore's technological and analytical education designed to support every child's endeavors according to their pace of learning and areas of profound interest. One of Singapore's most desirable accomplishments is their student to computer ratio (1:6). This opportunity demonstrates the country's investment in their future, for its people are their only natural resource.

Current strategic plans for the US Embassy of Singapore is SuccessASEAN, which is a busin

divert trade, and impose costs, if suppliers outside the arrangement can no longer compete against suppliers within.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

AFTA involves phasing intra-regional tariffs down to 0-5 per cent over a 15-year period from 1 January 1993 for a wide range of manufactured products, via a common effective preferential tariff (CEPT) mechanism, with allowance for fast-track tariff cuts and temporary and permanent exclusions. It also proposes to eliminate non-tariff barriers for these manufactures but has not yet established a mechanism for doing so. In the case of AFTA, the reduction of high tariffs will facilitate trade in intermediate products and encourage an international division of labor in industrial production within ASEAN.

In addition, AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area), that is modeled after NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), serves to unify the ASEAN market across a wide range of manufactured products. The emergence of AFTA will attract foreign investors competing in the global market.

Some common words found in the essay are:
East Asia, Trade AFTA, European Union, Expanding AFTA's, ASEAN AFTA, Currently ASEAN, Analytical Unit, United Embassy, Commerce Department, Trade Agreement, free trade, commercial service, currency crisis, asean free trade, wide range manufactured, afta asean free, afta asean, embassy singapore, asean free, world economy, asian currency, east asia, range manufactured products, asian currency crisis, asean countries,
Approximate Word count = 947
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)