20th+

ASEAN was preceded by an organisation formed on 31 July 1961 called the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), a group consisting of Thailand, the Philippines, and the Federation of Malaya. ASEAN itself was created on 8 August 1967, when the foreign ministers of five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, signed the ASEAN Declaration. As set out in the Declaration, the aims and purposes of ASEAN are to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region, to promote regional peace, collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest, to provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities, to collaborate for better utilization of agriculture and industry to raise the living standards of the people, to promote Southeast Asian studies and to maintain close, beneficial co-operation with existing international organisations with similar aims and purposes.

The creation of ASEAN was motivated by a common fear of communism. The group achieved greater cohesion in the mid-1970s following a change in the balance of power after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The region's dynamic economic growth during the 1970s strengthened the organization, enabling ASEAN to adopt a unified response to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in 1979. ASEAN's first summit meeting, held in Bali, Indonesia in 1976, resulted in an agreement on several industrial projects and the signing of a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, and a Declaration of Concord. The end of the Cold War allowed ASEAN countries to exercise greater political independence in the region, and in the 1990s ASEAN emerged as a leading voice on regional trade and security issues.

ASEAN also regularly engages other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. A major partner of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, ASEAN maintains a global network of alliances and dialogue partners and is considered by many as a global powerhouse, the central union for cooperation in Asia-Pacific, and a prominent and influential organization. It is involved in numerous international affairs, and hosts diplomatic missions throughout the world. The ASEAN Secretariat is located at Jakarta, Indonesia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Southeast_Asian_Nations .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Southeast_Asian_Nations#ASEAN_Plus_Three .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Southeast_Asian_Nations#ASEAN_Plus_Six .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN_Charter .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN_Declaration .

Comment:
ASEAN has had a positive influence in regional tourism, with no visas needed for short term visits as mentioned by Rob' Ramos. The moves towards free trade and and economic community have been slow, but I think steady. The range of consumer products in grocery stores has a lot more products from the region compared to a few decades ago, although China imports are also up. I think many companies find it easier to export to the ASEAN market because rules are somewhat unified, and the recent launch of RCEP with most of ASEAN's dialog partners (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, China) might bring more changes. I don't think political integration like the EU or even regions of Africa will be on the agenda any time soon, but ASEAN serves an important political function in reminding national governments to stay within international norms. That doesn't always amount to full democracy, but its better than some of the alternatives the region has seen in the not too distant past.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The 15 member countries account for about 30% of the world's population (2.2 billion people) and 30% of global GDP ($26.2 trillion), making it the largest trade bloc in history. It is the first free trade agreement among the East Asian countries of China, Japan, and South Korea, three of the four largest economies in Asia.

The RCEP was conceived at the 2011 ASEAN Summit in Bali, Indonesia, while negotiations formally launched during the 2012 ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. India, which took part in the initial negotiations but later decided to opt out, was invited to join the bloc at any time. Any other country or separate customs territory in the region can apply to join the pact 18 months after it takes force. The treaty was formally signed on 15 November 2020 at the virtual ASEAN Summit hosted by Vietnam. As of 3 December 2021, six of the ten ASEAN and all five of the non-ASEAN signatories have deposited their instruments of RCEP ratification with the Secretary-General of ASEAN. The trade pact took effect on 1 January 2022 for most members.

The RCEP includes a mix of high-, middle-, and low-income countries. It is expected to eliminate about 90% of the tariffs on imports between its signatories within 20 years of coming into force, and establish common rules for e-commerce, trade, and intellectual property. Several analysts predicted that it would offer significant economic gains for signatory nations, boost post-pandemic economic recovery, as well as "pull the economic centre of gravity back towards Asia, with China poised to take the lead in writing trade rules for the region," leaving the U.S. behind in economic and political affairs. Reactions from others were neutral or negative, with some analysts saying that the economic gains from the trade deal would be modest. The RCEP has been criticized for ignoring labor, human rights, and environmental sustainability issues.

Pages

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

●●τ 1961 through 1990

●τ 1961

61-7-31 ASA ⇒ 67-8-8 ASEAN

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

●τ 1962

1962-2-7 Cuban Crisis & JFK - 1962, 7 Feb

sī vīs pācem, parā bellum