ASEAN is a regional organization founded in 1967 with five member countries, now expanded to ten. Its goals include economic growth, social and cultural progress, and regional peace and stability. ASEAN aims to become a competitive force on the world stage through the ASEAN Free Trade Area and promote intercultural understanding through various programs. There have been no armed clashes between member countries since its inception.
ASEAN is an acronym for Association of Southeast Asian Nations, an organization founded on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. Its original charter had five member countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, five other nations have joined: Brunei in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999.
The member countries are spread over an area of 1.74 million square miles (4.5 million square kilometers) with a combined population of 500 million people. Their annual gross domestic product is nearly $700 billion US dollars (USD), with total trade of about $850 billion.
ASEAN was established to promote mutual interests in the region, including accelerating economic growth, social and cultural progress, and regional peace and stability. In line with these goals, the organization’s leaders established three governance “pillars” in 2003: ASEAN Security, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-cultural Community.
Currently, the group’s main economic concern is to make the region a competitive force on the world stage. He proposes to do this by launching the region as a single market manufacturing base, resulting in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). AFTA ensures that tariff and non-tariff barriers between member countries are eliminated, with the hope of increased economic productivity.
ASEAN also aims to unite the region and promote greater intercultural understanding through various educational and social programs. Examples are the ASEAN Work Program on HIV and AIDS; ASEAN Network for Occupational Safety and Health; ASEAN University Network (AUN) ASEAN Students Exchange Programme, Youth Cultural Forum and ASEAN Young Speakers Forum; among others.
Regarding regional peace and stability, it is interesting to note that there have been no armed clashes between member countries since the beginning, which is noteworthy considering that there have been many long-standing discussions on land and sea borders in the area .
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