A version of this essay was published in the Encyclopedia of World Trade published by ME Sharpe Publishers, Armonk, New York.
ASEAN © Anup Mukherjee
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) came to existence consequent to the Bangkok declaration of Aug 8, 1967. The declaration stated that the “Association represents the collective will of the nations of South-East Asia to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity.” The main objectives of the association are to, “accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region", “promote regional peace and stability", and, “mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields”
The initial five members of ASEAN were Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Over the years, new members have added to it taking the total membership to ten. The new members include- Brunei Darussalam (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos (1997), Myanmar (1997) and Cambodia (1999).
The achievement of ASEAN has been phenomenal in both the economic and political fields. In the initial three decades, these countries have generally achieved an average economic growth rate of 7 %. Its trade has grown from $ 10 billion in 1967 to over $ 650 billion in 1995. The modernisation efforts have resulted in shift from primary sector to those of manufacturing and service sector. The first Summit was held in Bali in 1976. The economic agenda set forth by it in the “Declaration of ASEAN Concord” related to three fields- the ASEAN Industrial Projects (AIP), the Preferential Trading Arrangements (PTA) and the ASEAN Industrial Cooperation (AIC) schemes. Later on to the AIC was added the ASEAN Industrial Joint Ventures (AIJV). These have led to creation of framework for economic cooperation among the countries of the association. At the Kuala Lumpur Summit (1977), ASEAN initiated the dialogue process to advanced its economic cooperation with its major trading partners. This resulted in creation of Dialogue Partners initially with Japan, Australia and New Zealand. This process has grown over the years. The issues of such dialogue relates to trade, capital, technology, and also issues of peace and security
A major step towards reducing barriers of trade was the Singapore Summit Declaration (1992), where agreement was reached on a Common Effective Preferential Tariff Scheme (CEPT) for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). AFTA is a natural culmination of the PTA. Economic cooperation has also meant creation of sub-regional natural growth areas like the Singapore-Johor-Riau Growth Triangle (SIJORI) among others.
ASEAN countries have also developed links with other countries through forums like APEC, and also an institutional framework of cooperation with Europe in form of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). It has also launched the East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC) as an informal consultative forum to develop linkages with the countries of East Asia, which it sees as a region for prospective members.
ASEAN has also been effective on political issues. An important development was the Kuala Lumpur Declaration of 1971 that wished to declare the region as a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN). This aimed at freedom from any form of interference from “outside Powers", and at broadening cooperation that would contribute to “strength, solidarity and closer relationship".
In 1976, a major agreement was on the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South East Asia (TAC) that aimed to “promote perpetual peace, everlasting amity and cooperation among their peoples which would contribute to their strength, solidarity and closer relationship". It also aimed to be a code of conduct for peaceful settlement of disputes. It was also open for the non-regional countries to associate with this treaty.
An important initiative of ASEAN towards nuclear free region is SEANWFZ (South East Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone) treaty that was adopted in the Bangkok summit in 1995. It expresses ASEAN’s determination towards complete nuclear disarmament and also for promotion of international peace.
Similarly, the process to engage other countries in a political dialogue on security issues is achieved through ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum). It is a multilateral consultative forum among the countries with security interests in the Asia-Pacific region. It is a three stage evolutionary framework that aims at developing confidence building measures, preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution mechanism.
ASEAN has played an important role in the peaceful resolution of conflict in the region. This is best exemplified by the case of Cambodia, where it involved the different factions of conflict in the dialogue process to work towards peace and national reconciliation. Moreover, the organisation has taken common positions on a number of vital global issues. This also includes a process of Dialogue Relation with other countries outside the region.
The strength of ASEAN exists in its shared vision about the regions future, best exemplified by its Vision 2020 declaration that sees inter-alia an, “outward-looking ASEAN playing a pivotal role in the international fora, and advancing ASEAN’s common interests".
References: ASEAN Summit Documents