ASEAN, the ten-nation alliance shaping Southeast Asia’s future

It was founded on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, when the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand signed the ASEAN Declaration.

Today, the country has ten members with Brunei joining in 1984, followed by Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia which joined by 1999.

ASEAN was born from the vision of five founding members—Adam Malik of Indonesia, Narciso Ramos of the Philippines, Tun Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam of Singapore, and Thanat Khoman of Thailand, who wanted to create a more unified and cooperative Southeast Asia.

Their goal was to build a strong intergovernmental organisation to support regional development and stability.

Today, ASEAN is one of the most successful regional organisations in the developing world, promoting economic, political, and cultural cooperation among its members.

The bloc generated a purchasing power parity (PPP) gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$10.2 trillion in 2022, constituting approximately 6.5% of global GDP (PPP). ASEAN member states include some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and the institution plays an integral role in East Asian regionalism.

All members of the bloc are to maintain fundamental principles including mutual respect for the the independence and sovereignty of each nation, and the non-interference in the internal affairs of one another.

Here’s a representation of the ASEAN countries on a map compiled by World In Maps.