NEGOTIATIONS to upgrade an agreement to establish an Asean-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) have reached 'substantial conclusion,' the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said on Sunday.

'AANZFTA is not only the first region-to-region free trade agreement for both Asean and CER (Australia and New Zealand) but also remains as Asean's most ambitious single undertaking since it embarked on an outward-looking economic regime aimed at integrating the Asean member states, individually and collectively, into the global economy,' a joint statement issued at the end of the regional bloc's annual summit declared.