ASEAN

ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS:

ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967 in
Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July
1995, Laos and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999.

OBJECTIVES

The ASEAN Declaration states that the aims and purposes of the Association are: (i) to
accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region
through joint endeavours in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the
foundation for a prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian nations, and (ii) to
promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law
in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the
United Nations Charter.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia, signed at the First ASEAN
Summit on 24 February 1976, declared that in their relations with one another, the High
Contracting Parties should be guided by the following fundamental principles:

1.Mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and
national identity of all nations
.2.The right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference,
subversion or coercion;
3.Non-interference in the internal affairs of one another;
4.Settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner;
5.Renunciation of the threat or use of force; and
6.Effective cooperation among themselves.

POLITICAL COOPERATION

The TAC stated that ASEAN political and security dialogue and cooperation should aim to
promote regional peace and stability by enhancing regional resilience. Regional resilience
shall be achieved by cooperating in all fields based on the principles of self-confidence, self-
reliance, mutual respect, cooperation, and solidarity, which shall constitute the foundation
for a strong and viable community of nations in Southeast Asia.

Some of the major political accords of ASEAN are as follows:

ASEAN Declaration, Bangkok, 8 August 1967;

Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality Declaration, Kuala Lumpur, 27 November 1971;
Declaration of ASEAN Concord, Bali, 24 February 1976;
Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, Bali, 24 February 1976;
ASEAN Declaration on the South China Sea, Manila, 22 July 1992;
Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, Bangkok, 15 December 1997; and
ASEAN Vision 2020, Kuala Lumpur, 15 December 1997.
Declaration of ASEAN Concord II, Bali, 7 October 2003
The ASEAN Security Community is envisaged to bring ASEAN’s political and security
cooperation to a higher plane to ensure that countries in the region live at peace with one
another and with the world at large in a just, democratic and harmonious environment.

In 1992, the ASEAN Heads of State and Government declared that ASEAN should intensify
its external dialogues in political and security matters as a means of building cooperative
ties with states in the Asia-Pacific region. Two years later, the ASEAN Regional Forum or
ARF was established. The ARF aims to promote confidence-building, preventive diplomacy
and conflict resolution in the region. The present participants in the ARF include: Australia,
Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan,
Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, Vietnam.

Through political dialogue and confidence building, no tension has escalated into armed
confrontation among ASEAN members since its establishment more than three decades
ago.

ECONOMIC AND FUNCTIONAL COOPERATION

When ASEAN was established, trade among the Member Countries was insignificant.
Estimates between 1967 and the early 1970s showed that the share of intra-ASEAN trade
from the total trade of the Member Countries was between 12 and 15 percent. Thus, some
of the earliest economic cooperation schemes of ASEAN were aimed at addressing this
situation. One of these was the Preferential Trading Arrangement of 1977, which accorded
tariff preferences for trade among ASEAN economies. Ten years later, an Enhanced PTA
Programme was adopted at the Third ASEAN Summit in Manila further increasing intra-
ASEAN trade.

The Framework Agreement on Enhancing Economic Cooperation was adopted at the Fourth
ASEAN Summit in Singapore in 1992, which included the launching of a scheme toward an
ASEAN Free Trade Area or AFTA. The strategic objective of AFTA is to increase the ASEAN
region’s competitive advantage as a single production unit. The elimination of tariff and
non-tariff barriers among the member countries is expected to promote greater economic
efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness. The Fifth ASEAN Summit held in Bangkok in
1995 adopted the Agenda for Greater Economic Integration, which included the acceleration
of the timetable for the realization of AFTA from the original 15-year timeframe to 10 years.

In 1997, the ASEAN leaders adopted the ASEAN Vision 2020, which called for ASEAN
Partnership in Dynamic Development aimed at forging closer economic integration within
the region. The vision statement also resolved to create a stable, prosperous and highly
competitive ASEAN Economic Region, in which there is a free flow of goods, services,
investments, capital, and equitable economic development and reduced poverty and socio-
economic disparities. The Hanoi Plan of Action, adopted in 1998, serves as the first in a
series of plans of action leading up to the realization of the ASEAN vision.

In addition to trade and investment liberalization, regional economic integration is being

pursued through the development of Trans-ASEAN transportation network consisting of
major inter-state highway and railway networks, principal ports and sea lanes for maritime
traffic, inland waterway transport, and major civil aviation links. ASEAN is promoting the
interoperability and interconnectivity of the national telecommunications equipment and
services. Building of Trans-ASEAN energy networks, which consist of the ASEAN Power Grid
and the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline Projects are also being developed.

ASEAN cooperation has resulted in greater regional integration. Within three years from the
launching of AFTA, exports among ASEAN countries grew from US$43.26 billion in 1993 to
almost US$80 billion in 1996, an average yearly growth rate of 28.3 percent. In the
process, the share of intra-regional trade from ASEAN’s total trade rose from 20 percent to
almost 25 percent. Tourists from ASEAN countries themselves have been representing an
increasingly important share of tourism in the region. In 1996, of the 28.6 million tourist
arrivals in ASEAN, 11.2 million or almost 40 percent, came from within ASEAN itself.

Today, ASEAN economic cooperation covers the following areas: trade, investment,
industry, services, finance, agriculture, forestry, energy, transportation and communication,
intellectual property, small and medium enterprises, and tourism.

Desiring to build a community of caring societies, the ASEAN leaders resolved in 1995 to
elevate functional cooperation to a higher plane to bring shared prosperity to all its
members. The Framework for Elevating Functional Cooperation to a Higher Plane was
adopted in 1996 with a theme: “Shared prosperity through human development,
technological competitiveness, and social cohesiveness.” Functional cooperation is guided by
the following plans:

ASEAN Plan of Action on Social Development;

ASEAN Plan of Action on Culture and Information;
ASEAN Plan of Action on Science and Technology;
ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on the Environment;
ASEAN Plan of Action on Drug Abuse Control; and
ASEAN Plan of Action in Combating Transnational Crime

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The ASEAN Vision 2020 affirmed an outward-looking ASEAN playing a pivotal role in the
international community and advancing ASEAN’s common interests.

ASEAN has made major strides in building cooperative ties with states in the Asia-Pacific
region and shall continue to accord them a high priority. Cooperation with other East Asian
countries has accelerated with the holding of an annual dialogue among the leaders of
ASEAN, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. In 1997, a joint statement between ASEAN
and each of them was signed providing for framework for cooperation towards the 21st
century. In November 1999, the leaders of ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea
issued a Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation outlining the areas of cooperation among
them.

The ASEAN Summit of 1992 mandated that “ASEAN, as part of an increasingly

interdependent world, should intensify cooperative relationships with its Dialogue Partners.”
Consultations between ASEAN and its Dialogue Partners are held at the Foreign Ministers’
level on an annual basis. ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners include Australia, Canada, China, the
European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation,
the United States of America, and the United Nations Development Programme. ASEAN also
promotes cooperation with Pakistan on certain sectors.

Consistent with its resolve to enhance cooperation with other developing regions, ASEAN
maintains contact with other inter-governmental organizations, namely, the Economic
Cooperation Organization, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Rio Group, the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation, and the South Pacific Forum.

Most ASEAN Member Countries also participate actively in the activities of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the East Asia-Latin
America Forum (EALAF).

STRUCTURES AND MECHANISMS

The highest decision-making organ of ASEAN is the Meeting of the ASEAN Heads of State
and Government. The ASEAN Summit is convened every year. The ASEAN Ministerial
Meeting (Foreign Ministers) is held on an annual basis. Ministerial meetings on several other
sectors are also held: agriculture and forestry, economics, energy, environment, finance,
information, investment, labour, law, regional haze, rural development and poverty
alleviation, science and technology, social welfare, transnational crime, transportation,
tourism, youth, the AIA Council and, the AFTA Council. Supporting these ministerial bodies
are 29 committees of senior officials and 122 technical working groups.

To support the conduct of ASEAN’s external relations, ASEAN has established committees
composed of heads of diplomatic missions in the following capitals: Brussels, London, Paris,
Washington D.C., Tokyo, Canberra, Ottawa, Wellington, Geneva, Seoul, New Delhi, New
York, Beijing, Moscow, and Islamabad.

The Secretary-General of ASEAN is appointed on merit and accorded ministerial status. The
Secretary-General of ASEAN, who has a five-year term, is mandated to initiate, advise,
coordinate, and implement ASEAN activities. The members of the professional staff of the
ASEAN Secretariat are appointed on the principle of open recruitment and region-wide
competition.

ASEAN has several specialized bodies and arrangements promoting inter-governmental

cooperation in various fields: ASEAN University Network, ASEAN-EC Management Centre,
ASEAN Centre for Energy, ASEAN Agricultural Development Planning Centre, ASEAN
Earthquake Information Centre, ASEAN Poultry Research and Training Centre, ASEAN
Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, ASEAN Rural Youth Development Centre,
ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center, ASEAN Tourism Information Centre, and ASEAN
Timber Technology Centre.

In addition, ASEAN promotes cooperative activities with organizations with related aims and
purposes: ASEAN-Chambers of Commerce and Industry, ASEAN Business Forum, ASEAN
Tourism Association, ASEAN Council on Petroleum, ASEAN Ports Association, ASEAN
Vegetable Oils Club, and the ASEAN-Institutes for Strategic and International Studies.
Furthermore, there are 53 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), which have formal
affiliations with ASEAN.

ASEAN AND PAKISTAN - RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

Asean has evolved in to a major regional organisation over the period of years and its
significance is increasing day by day.Infact it wouldn't be wrong to call ASEAN a well
established player in the market of South Asia which has played a pivtol, and more focussed
role in bringing about the cooperation between the countries on socio and economic level
especially.
The organization with the mutual assistance of its member countries have moved forward
and is planning to accelerate its projects in order to bring more economic prosperity in the
region.

Pakistan in the present year also looks forwrad in becoming a full dialogue partner Of
ASEAN which will be an excellent opprotunity to get closer to the powerful regional grouping
that ASEAN is.Pakistani government has shown a keen perspective towards becoming a
comprehensive partner of the regional group which will be an ultimate benefit for our
country both economicaly and socially.For this very reason our government alongwith
Malaysia and other countries has been making efforts to include Pakistan in the list of the
full dialogue partner memebers.

It is hoped that with a step by step the process will move forward at a comfortable pace and
there will be continuing enhancement of commitment among all the partciapnts and
memebr states in future and Pakistan too will be able to benefit from the organization
concerning its social and economic trade programs.