Asian nations should pursue regional and bilateral free trade arrangements despite their commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said today.

Such regional agreements allow countries "to build on their strengths, to coalesce and counterweight the monopoly power of larger trading blocs," he said in an address to the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.

"And taking into account the arduous and, at times, tilted process towards multilateral trade agreements, regional and bilateral arrangements are crucial stepping stones and building blocs towards global free trade," said Abdullah, who is set to succeed Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad later this year.