The Bangkok agreement, signed under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), is Asia’s first multilateral trade liberalisation effort leading to the establishment of a preferential trading arrangement in the region. After tracing the roots of cooperation in trade culminating in the signing of the Agreement, this paper examines the possible distribution of benefits among the member countries. Using alternative criteria to measure the exchange of benefits, it is contended that its implementation, in its present form, is likely to lead to imbalances, particularly between the relatively developed and the less developed member countries. Accordingly some policy guidelines are suggested with a view to moderating the imbalances.