For a variety of reasons, preferential access regimes for poorer countries have not been very effective in improving market access for these countries. These rules often exclude highly protected products of most interest to exporters from the poorest countries or offer less generous benefits to them. They are often complex, opaque and subject to various exceptions and conditions (including non-economic ones) that limit or terminate benefits as soon as significant market access is achieved. The parties said trade between ASEAN and Korea has increased by more than 178 percent, from more than $56 billion in 2006 to more than $156 billion in 2019. On behalf of ASEAN, Thailand found Korea to be ASEAN`s fifth-largest trading partner and the tenth-largest source of foreign direct investment.