The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on August 8, 1967, in Bangkok.
• The founding members were Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
• Subsequent members include Brunei Darussalam (January 8, 1984), Vietnam (July 28, 1995), Lao PDR and Myanmar (July 23, 1997), and Cambodia (April 30, 1999).
• ASEAN region has a population of approximately 600 million people.
• The total land area is 1.7 million square miles.
• It replaced the Association of South East Asia (ASA), formed in 1961 by the Philippines, Thailand, and the Federation of Malaya.
• ASEAN's first summit meeting in Bali, Indonesia (1976), resulted in industrial project agreements, a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, and a Declaration of Concord.
• The ASEAN Charter was signed in 2007 and enforced in December 2008, giving ASEAN legal personality.
• The charter increased the frequency of summit meetings and established the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.
• ASEAN is a region of diverse markets, economies, and cultures.
• Investors can find a wide range of opportunities and possibilities due to this diversity.
• Land area varies significantly among ASEAN countries, with Indonesia being 2,605 times larger than Singapore.
• Population sizes also differ, ranging from Brunei's 423,000 to Indonesia's 238 million people.
• Urbanization rates range from 100% in Singapore to 21% in Cambodia.
• The combined GDP growth rate of Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao, and Vietnam is 6.7%, outperforming the ASEAN mean rate.
• Developed ASEAN economies leverage technology, research, and innovation; others rely on natural resources and competitive labor costs.
• Over a quarter of ASEAN's 600 million people are between 15 and 29 years old.
• Islam and Buddhism are widely practiced in mainland Southeast Asia.
• The Philippines has largely Roman Catholic.
• Hinduism and Christianity are also practiced region-wide.
• Each ASEAN country has its own official languages and dialects.
• English is the official business language in most ASEAN countries.
• ASEAN peoples are known for their hospitality, graciousness, dynamism, and family values.
• They take pride in their heritage evident in architecture, dances, music, and literature.

Purposes of ASEAN- Article 1

• To maintain and enhance peace, security, and stability in the region.
• To promote greater political, security, economic, and socio-cultural cooperation.
• To preserve Southeast Asia as a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone.
• To ensure that ASEAN peoples live in peace with the world in a just, democratic, and harmonious environment.

Principles of ASEAN- Article 2

• ASEAN and its Member States reaffirm and adhere to the fundamental principles.
• Respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all ASEAN Member States.
• Shared commitment and collective responsibility in enhancing regional peace, security, and prosperity.
• Renunciation of aggression and the threat or use of force.
• Reliance on peaceful settlement of disputes.
• Non-interference in the internal affairs of ASEAN Member States.

Legal Personality, Member States and New Members

• ASEAN is conferred legal personality as an inter-governmental organization.
• Current Member States: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Admission of new members shall be prescribed by the ASEAN Coordinating Council.
• The working language of ASEAN is English.
• ASEAN promotes its common identity to achieve shared goals and values.
• The ASEAN motto is "One Vision, One Identity, One Community".
• The eighth of August is observed as ASEAN Day.
• ASEAN Committees in Third Countries promote ASEAN’s interests and identity.
• The signed original text of the Charter in English will be deposited with the Secretary-General of ASEAN.
• Assets and funds of the Organization are vested in the name of ASEAN.
• The term “culture” means the complex of spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and material features that characterize a society.
• Cultural heritage includes cultural values, structures, sites, folk heritage, written heritage, and popular cultural heritage.
• Cultural creativity and diversity are essential for human progress and development.
• The ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information is tasked to create a work program on cultural heritage.

Test Questions

• ASEAN stands for the Association of South East Asian Nations.
• There are 10 member countries in ASEAN.
• Mauritius is not a member of ASEAN.
• Cambodia is not the ASEAN member with the lowest nominal GDP.
• ASEAN was established in 1967.
• The headquarters of ASEAN is Jakarta.
• The objective of ASEAN is to integrate economies for investors and promote economic cooperation and stability.

ASEAN Community

• ASEAN Political-Security Community
• ASEAN Economic Community
• ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community
• The ASEAN Community consists of three pillars.
• The ASEAN Heads of States/Governments adopted the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II in 2003.
• The ASEAN Leaders decided to accelerate the establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 during the 12th ASEAN Summit in the Philippines.
• The ASEAN Heads of States/Governments signed the ASEAN Charter to intensify community-building at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore.
• The APSC Blueprint is guided by the ASEAN Charter.
• It builds on the ASEAN Security Community Plan of Action the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP).
• The APSC Blueprint provides a roadmap and timetable to establish the APSC by 2015.

ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC)

• It will ensure that ASEAN peoples live in peace with one another in a just, democratic, and harmonious environment.
• The APSC Blueprint is an action-oriented document.
• ASEAN has achieved progress in political development since the ASC Plan of Action in 2003.
• ASEAN Law Ministers Meeting (ALAWMM), with ASEAN Law Association (ALA), develop cooperation programmes to strengthen the rule of law.
• Encourage relevant entities associated with ASEAN to develop modalities for interaction.
• Encourage all ASEAN Member States to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation for Preventing and Combating Corruption.
• Encourage accession to the Protocol of the SEANWFZ Treaty by Nuclear Weapon States.
• Defense officials: involved in the ASEAN security dialogue since 1996.
• ASEAN promotes the TAC, which seeks to preserve regional peace and harmony.
• Endeavour to ratify the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters among ASEAN Member States.
• Work towards a drug-free ASEAN by 2015.
• Work towards the entry into force of the ASEAN Convention on Counter Terrorism (ACCT) by 2009.
• ASEAN will exercise and maintain its centrality and proactive role as the primary driving force.
• The Coordinating Conference for the ASEAN Political-Security Community Plan of Action (ASCCO) serves as the platform in coordinating and information sharing.
• The ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) Council is responsible for implementing the Blueprint.
• Financial resources: mobilized by ASEAN Member States, the ASEAN Development Fund (ADF), Dialogue Partners, donor countries, international agencies, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations. Comprehensive communication plan will be developed at the national and regional levels.
• The review and evaluation shall be conducted biennially by the ASCCO.

ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)

• ASEAN plays a central role in East Asia’s economic integration and regional cooperation.
• Economic cooperation began after the 1976 Declaration of ASEAN Concord.
• Economic cooperation was promoted through the ASEAN Industrial Project (AIP), the ASEAN Industrial Complementation (AIC), and the ASEAN Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).
• ASEAN virtually started economic integration with the formation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 1993.
• AFTA achieved its original goal of reducing tariffs to 0–5% in 2002, and ASEAN 6 realized tariff elimination in 2010.
• AFTA has achieved a high rate of trade liberalization of 98.6%.
• ASEAN began forming the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2003.
• The AEC covers a wide range of areas: standards, intellectual property rights, competition policies, infrastructure development, and narrowing the development gap.
• The AEC furthers integration into the global economy by participating in global supply chains and actively promotes FTAs with countries outside the ASEAN region.
• The AEC was established at the end of 2015 and ASEAN is currently implementing the AEC Blueprint 2025.
• The evolution of ASEAN’s economic integration can be divided into three phases: AFTA’s formation from 1992 to 2002, the establishment of the AEC from 2003 to 2015, and building AEC2025 after 2016.

Previous Trade Liberalizations

• The ASEAN PTA came into effect in February 1977.
• The Brand to Brand Complementation (BBC) reduced tariffs on auto parts by 50% in 1988.
• The BBC is a trade liberalization program proposed by Mitsubishi Motors.
• Beginning in 1996, the BBC was expanded to ASEAN Industrial Cooperation (AICO).
• Entering the 1990s, ASEAN launched the AFTA in 1993 in response to international environmental changes.
• The AFTA was agreed upon at the Economic Ministers Conference in 1991.
• The most important objective was to attract foreign investment.
• AFTA reduced tariffs to less than 5% in ASEAN6 in 2003 and eliminated tariffs in 2010.
• ASEAN adopted the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II at the 9th ASEAN Summit held in October 2003.
• The AEC was proposed by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong of Singapore.
• ASEAN adopted the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP) at the 10th ASEAN Summit.
• VAP covered the term from 2004 to 2010.
• Logistics was added to the priority sectors in 2007.
• ASEAN agreed to move establishment of the AEC forward from 2020 to 2015.
• AEC 2015 is an important milestone toward a new phase of ASEAN economic integration.
• The trade liberalization rate of ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) stands at 98.6%.
• Liberalization of trade in service has been undertaken in line with the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Service (AFAS).
• In terms of investment, ASEAN signed the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) in March 2012.

Trade and Investments

• Trade facilitation enhances trade by reducing trade costs and time.
• ASEAN adopted a number of trade facilitation initiatives.
• All ASEAN member countries have participated in the live operation of the exchange of ATIGA e-form D in 2020.
• To facilitate movement of skilled workers, ASEAN concluded the ASEAN Agreement of Movement of Natural Persons in 2012.
• ASEAN signed a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) for professional service qualifications.
• ASEAN has made considerable progress in forming FTAs and economic partnership agreements (EPAs).
• In 2019, the ASEAN and Hong Kong FTA (AHKFTA) was signed as the 7th ASEAN plus 1 FTA.
• ASEAN is at the FTA stage.

EEC vs ASEAN

• EEC is a customs union that developed into a common market in 1992 under the name of the EU and has achieved monetary union.
• The ASEAN Leaders adopted the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II (Bali Concord II) on October 7, 2003.
• At the 12th ASEAN Summit on January 13, 2007, the Leaders signed the Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of an ASEAN Community by 2015.
• The 13th ASEAN Summit agreed to develop an ASCC Blueprint.
• Youth awards programme to recognise oustanding individuals and youth organisations.

ASEAN Political and Security Aims

• Has its genesis of over four decades of close cooperation and solidarity.
• Cooperating in political development is not an aim.
• Identify mechanisms to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen the links.
• Conduct analytical and technical studies to established baselines,benchmarks and best practices in various aspect of governance in the region.
• Cooperate closely with sectoral bodies in the development of an ASEAN instrument on the rights of the migrant workers.
• Original members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand.
• Tariff was eliminated at 98.6% in 2016.
• The goals of the ASEAN Economic Community covers mutual recognition of standards, intellectual property rights competition policies, infrastructure development and narrowing the development gap.
• Bella Balasa advocated economic integration. Japanese companies uses AFTA to avoid tariff payments and operate with the four countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand.

ASCC (blueprint on Nov 20 2007) Envisages:

• Human development
• Social welfare and protection
• Social justice and rights
• Ensuring Environmental Sustainability
• Building the Asean Identity
• Narrowing the Development Gap