Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb.

Good evening ma'am, permission to answer the discussion task that has been given.

     The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is a group that has an agreement to conduct free
trade between ASEAN countries. The formation of AFTA was motivated by the economic
development of each ASEAN member. When AFTA was formed, the new ASEAN members
consisted of six countries, namely Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
and Thailand. When the formation of AFTA, six countries that are members of ASEAN
immediately become members of AFTA. AFTA was formed on January 28, 1992, when the
4th ASEAN Summit was held in Singapore.

     The purpose of establishing AFTA is to make the ASEAN Region a competitive

production site. So that ASEAN products have strong competitiveness in the global market.
The other objectives of the establishment of AFTA are:
1) Making ASEAN the world's production center
2) Attract foreign investment
3) Creating a regional market for people in Southeast Asia
4) Remove import export tax for ASEAN members

Positive Impact of AFTA for Indonesia:

1) Provide opportunities for Indonesia in export activities

2) Making Indonesia more able to produce competitive commodities in the ASEAN market.
Several commodities that are ready to compete in regional markets, such as palm oil, textiles,
rubber, coffee, natural gas, and so on
3) Become an opportunity for small and medium entrepreneurs to export their production
goods
4) It is easy to get goods that people need and have not produced in Indonesia

     From the explanation above, it can be concluded that Indonesia's choice to become a
member of AFTA is the right choice because it can help the welfare of the Indonesian
economy through the trade sector, as well as with the entry of imported products into
Indonesia, the Indonesian people can sell these imported goods, which of course have a lot of
demand. And small entrepreneurs can also have the opportunity to export their merchandise
so that they can improve their production process. With the cooperation that is owned at the
international level, it can open up opportunities to expand production in Indonesia. And can
reduce tax costs for export-import activities, so that shipping costs will be more economical.

However, the Indonesian people must also be aware of several obstacles that may occur
in the implementation of AFTA:

1) If there is an error in the quality of the exported goods, countries that have used our goods
will be reluctant to continue.
2) There is industrial competition among countries
3) If we continue to carry out import activities, it will kill our local product industry.

One way to prevent these obstacles is by improving the quality of the products to be exported
in terms of the materials and quality of the finished product, so that countries that buy our
products are not disappointed and can re-order our products again.
Sorry if there are errors in answering and writing, thank you.
Wassalamualaikum Wr. Wb.

Source:
https://www.detik.com/edu/detikpedia/d-5844191/apa-yang-dimaksud-afta-ini-tujuan-dan-
dampaknya-bagi-indonesia
https://www.kompas.com/skola/read/2020/04/17/060000369/asean-free-trade-area-afta-
sejarah-tujuan-dan-dampaknya