ASEAN:

The Association  of Southeast  Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established  in 1967 in  Bangkok  by  the  five original Member Countries, namely,  Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam  joined  in 1984, Vietnam  in  1995, Laos and Myanmar in  1997 and Cambodia in  1999, making it ASEAN-10.

ASEAN began with emphasis on political issues but in recent times economic integration has  become priority, especially since  the Asian crisis of  the 1997. In 1992,  theASEAN Heads of State  and ~overnment  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.

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 fiom 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 Smit  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 realisation of AFTA fiom the original 15-year  timefiame 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 realisation of the ASEAN vision.

ASEAN cooperation  has resulted in greater regional integration. Within three years fiom the launching of AFTA, exports among ASEAN countries grew at an  average yearly growth rate of 28.3 percent.  In the process, the share of intra-regional trade fiom 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.

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

The  above suggests that  the ASEAN  is  a successful regional trading bloc developing world taking advantages of the economics of trade creation.