The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic organization of countries located in Southeast Asia. ASEAN was formed on August 8, 1967 by Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines, as a non-provocative display of solidarity against Communist expansion in Vietnam and insurgency within their own borders. Following the Bali Summit of 1976, the organization embarked on a programme of economic cooperation, which floundered in the mid-1980's only to be revived around a 1991 Thai proposal for a regional "free trade area". The countries meet annually.

Members

The ASEAN was founded by five states, mostly from maritime Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The British protectorate of Brunei joined the ASEAN six days after the country became independent from the United Kingdom on January 8, 1984.

The mainland states of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar were later admitted. Vietnam joined the ASEAN on July 28, 1995. Laos and Myanmar were admitted into the ASEAN on July 23, 1997. Cambodia became the newest member when it was admitted on April 30, 1999.

The Melanesian state of Papua New Guinea has observer status in the ASEAN. Meanwhile, the former Indonesian province of East Timor has applied for observer status in ASEAN. East Timor is widely seen as a member state candidate. ^*

The association includes about 8% of the world's population and in 2003 it had a combined GDP of about USD$700 billion, growing at an average rate of around 4% per annum. The economies of member countries of ASEAN are diverse, although its major products include electronics, petroleum, and wood.

The ASEAN countries are culturally rich. It includes more Muslims than any other geopolitical entity. About 240 million Muslims live mostly in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Buddhism constitutes the main religion of mainland Southeast Asia and there are about 170 million Buddhists in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore. Roman Catholicism is predominant in the Philippines.

ASEAN has governments with widely differing views on governance and political process, including practices in areas such as suffrage and representation. It encompasses styles of government ranging from democracy to autocracy.

History

ASEAN was originally formed out of an organization called the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), an alliance consisting of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand that formed in 1961. As such, ASA is considered the predecessor to ASEAN.

ASEAN itself was established on August 8, 1967, when foreign ministers of five countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand met at the Thai Department of Foreign Affairs building in Bangkok and signed the ASEAN Declaration (also known as the Bangkok Declaration). The five foreign ministers, considered the organization's Founding Fathers, were Adam Malik of Indonesia, Narciso R. Ramos of the Philippines, Tun Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam of Singapore, and Thanat Khoman of Thailand. The founding fathers envisaged that the organization would eventually encompass all countries in Southeast Asia.

Brunei Darussalam became the sixth member of the ASEAN when it joined on January 8, 1984, barely a week after the country became independent on January 1. It would be a further 11 years before ASEAN expanded from its core six members. Vietnam became the seventh member--and the first Communist member of ASEAN--on July 28, 1995, and Laos and Myanmar joined two years later in July 23, 1997. Cambodia was to have joined the ASEAN together with Laos and Myanmar, but was deferred due to the country's internal political struggle. Cambodia later joined on April 30, 1999, following the stabilization of its government. Thus was completed the ASEAN-10—the organization of all countries in Southeast Asia.

The ASEAN Regional Forum

ASEAN_Regional_Forum_Map.png|thumb|240px| ASEAN Regional Forum:

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ASEAN regularly conducts dialogue meetings with other countries and an organization, collectively known as the ASEAN dialogue partners during the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

The ASEAN Regional Forum is an informal multilateral dialogue of 25 members that seeks to address security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. The ARF met for the first time in 1994. The current participants in the ARF are as follows: ASEAN, Australia, Canada, People's Republic of China, European Union, India, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, East Timor, and the United States.

The ASEAN Summit

The organization holds annual meetings in relation to economic, and cultural development of Southeast Asian countries.

The ASEAN Leaders' Formal Summit was first held in Bali, Indonesia in 1976. At first there was no set schedule due to domestic issues in the member countries. In 1992, leaders decided to hold meetings every three years; and in 2001 it was decided to meet annually to address urgent issues affecting the region. Member nations were assigned to be the summit host in alphabetical order except in the case of Myanmar which dropped its 2006 hosting rights in 2004 due to pressure from the United States and the European Union.

The formal summit meets for three days. The usual itinerary is as follows:

• ASEAN leaders hold an internal organization meeting.
• ASEAN leaders hold a conference together with foreign ministers of the ASEAN Regional Forum.
• Leaders of 3 ASEAN Dialogue Partners (also known as ASEAN+3) namely China, Japan and South Korea hold a meeting with the ASEAN leaders.
• A separate meeting is set for leaders of 2 ASEAN Dialogue Partners (also known as ASEAN-CER) namely Australia and New Zealand.

At the 11th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, new meetings were scheduled. These were:

• East Asia Summit - converging ASEAN and six dialogue partners namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.
• ASEAN-Russia Summit - meeting between ASEAN leaders and the President of Russia.

To address urgent regional issues, ASEAN leaders hold informal summit meetings while formal meetings were being prepared. Leaders decided to discontinue informal meetings in 2000 and hold formal meetings every year effective 2001.

Comparison with other Regional blocs

See also

• ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution
• ASEAN Free Trade Area
• List of members of the ASEAN
• Asian Currency Unit
• Southeast Asian Games
• List of Trade blocs
• East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC)
• S.E.A. Write Award

External links

• ASEAN Secretariat official website
• 11th ASEAN Summit 12–14 December 2005, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia official site
• 11th ASEAN Summit 12–14 December 2005, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• ASEAN Regional Forum
• ASEAN Foundation
• ASEAN-Japan Centre
• ASEAN News Network headline news links
• ASEAN Focus Group
• ASEAN Secretariat Related Sites

ASEAN | International organizations | 1967 establishments

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