Since its inception in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 8, 1967, ASEAN has left an indelible imprint on the region and the world. From just five founding members at the beginning, ASEAN, which had to cope with many wars, conflicts, distrust and chronic poverty, has gathered all 10 countries into a single bloc and brought about many positive changes in the region.  

Despite having no economic powers, ASEAN has built up collective strength and reached a consensus to stop confrontations between member countries, establish new relationships on the principle of friendship, understanding and mutual trust and make a big leap in economic development. Notably, Singapore’s rapid development, Malaysia’s advances and Vietnam’s impressive economic growth have become “phenomena” of the world economy. From a region covering more than 4.5 million sq.km. and with a population of over 570 million, ASEAN has total GDP revenues of more than US$1.2 trillion and an export value of US$1.44 trillion annually.

The bloc has also established its firm position in the areas of politics and security in the region and the world by initiating and successfully hosting regionally important meetings such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the East-Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC). 

All these achievements have resulted from the member countries’ flexible observation of ASEAN principles with which member countries know how to cooperate and share hardships to develop together. At the same time, they have adjusted and adapted themselves to reach a consensus about the bloc’s common goals. These principles have created a distinct identity and built up the strength of ASEAN, helping it to become an important economic and political entity at the heart of Asia and an indispensable partner for the global economy as well as in the regional policies of all the countries and big economic centres in the world.

However, ASEAN has had to cope with many difficulties and challenges due to security and political instability in several member countries, the global economic slowdown and the soaring prices of food and energy. It has once again shown its quick adaptability to these changes by devising a new vision and accelerating its cooperation process to avoid lagging behind. The primary task now is to bring the ASEAN Charter to life to realise the goal of building a strong ASEAN Community by 2015 based on three pillars: the ASEAN Political and Security Community (APSC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC).