What is ASEAN, and what are the duties and functions of ASEAN? 

This article is about Full Profile of Asean, Organization of Countries In Southeast Asia.

ASEAN is an abbreviation for the Association of South East Asian Nations which has the meaning as an association of Southeast Asian Nations. 

ASEAN is a political and economic union of 10 member countries in Southeast Asia, which promotes cooperation between governments and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational and socio-cultural integration between its members and countries in Asia-Pacific. 

The ASEAN Union has a total area of ​​4,522,518 km2 (1,746,154 sq mi) and an estimated total population of around 668 million.

The purpose of the founding of Asean

The founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967 had several purposes. The primary goal was to promote regional peace and stability through economic cooperation and cultural exchange. At the time of its founding, Southeast Asia was a region that had experienced decades of conflict and political instability. ASEAN aimed to bring together the countries of Southeast Asia to work towards common goals and create a more stable and prosperous region.

Another purpose of ASEAN was to promote economic growth and development in the region. ASEAN aimed to create a regional market that would promote trade and investment between member countries. By creating a single market and production base, ASEAN hoped to reduce trade barriers, increase efficiency, and promote economic growth in the region.

In addition, ASEAN sought to promote cultural exchange and cooperation among its member countries. The organization aimed to foster greater understanding and appreciation of the diverse cultures and traditions within the region. This included initiatives to promote cultural heritage, the arts, and tourism.

Finally, ASEAN had a broader purpose of promoting cooperation and dialogue between Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. ASEAN sought to establish itself as a regional leader and to work with other countries and organizations to address global challenges.

Overall, the purpose of the founding of ASEAN was to promote regional peace and stability, economic growth and development, cultural exchange and cooperation, and greater cooperation with the international community.

ASEAN Mission

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organization consisting of ten member states in Southeast Asia. The mission of ASEAN is to promote economic cooperation, cultural exchange, and political and security cooperation among its member countries.

The primary goal of ASEAN is to create a stable and prosperous region for its member states and the broader Southeast Asian community. This is achieved through various initiatives and programs, including the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which aims to create a single market and production base for the region. The AEC promotes economic integration, free trade, and the free movement of goods, services, capital, and skilled labor among ASEAN member states.

In addition to economic cooperation, ASEAN also promotes cultural exchange and cooperation among its member states. The organization's cultural initiatives include the promotion of cultural heritage, the arts, and tourism, as well as efforts to foster greater understanding and appreciation of the diverse cultures within the region.

ASEAN also seeks to promote political and security cooperation among its member countries. This includes efforts to address regional security challenges such as terrorism, transnational crime, and territorial disputes. The organization promotes dialogue and cooperation to resolve these issues, as well as efforts to build trust and mutual understanding among member countries.

Overall, the mission of ASEAN is to build a cohesive and resilient community that is able to address the economic, political, and security challenges facing Southeast Asia. Through its various initiatives and programs, ASEAN aims to promote cooperation, understanding, and progress among its member states and the broader region.

ASEAN Profile 

ASEAN's motto is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community. Jakarta Secretariat English working language Membership of the 10 member countries Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam ASEAN is led by a Secretary General who is currently serving from Brunei, namely Lim Jock Hoi ASEAN Chair Country Cambodia ASEAN was formed through the Bangkok Declaration on August 8, 1967 (55 years ago) ASEAN Charter signed 16 December 2008 (13 years ago) The ASEAN website is www.asean.org 

History of the Establishment of ASEAN 

ASEAN was preceded by an organization formed on July 31, 1961 called the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), a group consisting of Thailand, the Philippines and the Federation of Malaya. 

ASEAN itself was formed on August 8, 1967, when the foreign ministers of five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, signed the ASEAN Declaration. As stated in the Declaration, the aims and objectives of ASEAN are to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region, to promote regional peace, cooperation and mutual assistance in matters of mutual interest, to help each other. in the form of training and research facilities, collaborating for better utilization of agriculture and industry to improve people's living standards, to promote Southeast Asian studies and to maintain close and fruitful cooperation with existing international organizations with the same goals and objectives. 

The formation of ASEAN was originally motivated by the desire to stem communism. Communism had taken a foothold in mainland Asia with the Soviet Union's occupation of the North Korean peninsula after World War II, establishing communist governments in North Korea (1945), the People's Republic of China (1949) and parts of the former French Indochina with North Vietnam (1954), accompanied by with the "Emergency" communist uprising in British Malaya and riots in the newly independent Philippines from the US in the early 1950s. 

These events also led to the creation of the former SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organization) led by the United States and Britain together with Australia with several Southeast Asian partners in 1954 as an extension of "containment" and an eastern version of NATO's initial stronghold in Western Europe in 1949. .

However, the local member states of the ASEAN group achieved greater cohesion in the mid-1970s following the shift in the balance of power following the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975 and the demise of SEATO. ASEAN's first summit meeting, held in Bali, Indonesia in 1976, resulted in agreements on several industrial projects and the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, and the Declaration of Harmony.

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 integration On 18 June 2021, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) – in a rare move, by near unanimous resolution – condemned the Myanmar coup, and called for an arms embargo on the country. UNGA consulted ASEAN and integrated most of ASEAN's 5-point consensus into resolutions (adding demands that the junta release all political prisoners). 

However, while Communist Vietnam voted "yes", along with ASEAN democracies (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines), most of the authoritarian ASEAN countries (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei) abstained. In October 2021, despite its consensus agreement with ASEAN, the Myanmar junta refused to allow ASEAN representatives to speak with Myanmar's ousted and imprisoned civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Following lobbying by the United Nations, United States, European Union, United Kingdom and other countries, ASEAN refused to invite Myanmar General Hlaing to represent Myanmar at the October 2021 ASEAN Summit — the first time in its history ASEAN which does not invite political meetings. leader of a member country to one of its pinnacles. ASEAN also did not invite representatives of Myanmar's underground National Unity Government, saying it would consider inviting the country's non-political representatives, instead, (though none were actually invited). ASEAN's unusual move is widely seen as a major setback to the Myanmar junta's efforts to achieve global recognition as the legitimate government of Myanmar, and a sign of broader changes in the behavior and role of ASEAN.

ASEAN's position on the South China Sea 

South China Sea disputes Main article: Territory disputes in the South China Sea With the perception that there have been numerous incursions into the South China Sea by China, with land, islands and resources all having previously overlapping claims between Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and various other countries, China's claim to the region is overdue and is seen as an attack by many Southeast Asian countries in 2022, potentially reflecting the threat of Chinese expansionism to the region. 

It follows the famous 11-dash line produced by the Republic of China (Taiwan), followed by the famous 9-dash line by the People's Republic of China. ASEAN seeks a more unified response to what it perceives as Chinese penetration and hegemony into the region. There have been attempts to offset Chinese influence by trying to align with other countries such as the Western powers. China (as well as Taiwan) has used several strategies in an attempt to seize the South China Sea islands, such as the Chinese salami-slicing strategy, and the Chinese cabbage tactic. 

There have also been calls to end Taiwan's illegal military actions in the South China Sea, which is called the East Sea in Vietnamese. Moreover, China passed a law in January 2021 allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, causing greater concern among ASEAN countries. 

It is considered that the Cham people, the indigenous people of Central and South Vietnam, were the 'ancient rulers of the South China Sea', who had conducted extensive trade and maritime routes throughout the region of Southeast Asia.

ASEAN Economic Outlook 

In 1992, the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme was adopted as a schedule for phasing out tariffs to increase "the region's competitive advantage as a production base destined for world markets". 

This law will become the framework for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), which is an agreement of member countries on local manufacturing in ASEAN. It was signed on 28 January 1992 in Singapore. 

Free trade initiatives in ASEAN are spearheaded by the implementation of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the Agreement on Customs. This agreement is supported by several sector bodies to plan and implement free trade actions, guided by the terms and conditions of the ATIGA and the Customs Agreement. 

They are the backbone of achieving the AEC Blueprint targets and the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by the end of 2015. On 26 August 2007, ASEAN stated its goal of concluding free trade agreements (FTAs) with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand by 2013, in line with the start of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. 

In November 2007, ASEAN countries signed the ASEAN Charter, a constitution that regulates relations between member states and establishes the group itself as an international legal entity. In the same year, the Cebu Declaration on East Asia Energy Security was signed by ASEAN and other EAS members (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea), which strive for energy security by seeking alternative energy sources other than fossils. fuel. On 27 February 2009, FTAs ​​with Australia and New Zealand were signed. It is believed that these FTAs ​​will increase the combined GDP of the 12 countries by more than US$48 billion between 2000 and 2020. 

The agreement with China created the ASEAN–China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), which entered into full force on January 1, 2010. In addition, ASEAN is noted to be negotiating an FTA with the European Union. Bilateral trade with India exceeded the target of US$70 billion in 2012 (target reached that level in 2015).

Taiwan has also expressed interest in a deal with ASEAN but needs to overcome diplomatic objections from China. ASEAN, together with its six main trading partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea), started the first round of negotiations on 26–28 February 2013, in Bali, Indonesia on the establishment of a Regional Comprehensive Economic Zone. Partnership (RCEP), which stands for ASEAN Plus Three and Six which covers 45% of the world's population and about one third of the world's total GDP. In 2017, ASEAN and Canada began exploratory discussions for an ASEAN-Canada free trade agreement.

In 2019, Reuters highlighted the mechanism used by traders to circumvent a 70% tariff on ethanol imported into China from the United States, which involves importing fuel into Malaysia, mixing it with at least 40% of ASEAN-produced fuel, and re-exporting it. to China tariff-free under ACFTA rules. 

ASEAN Development 

ASEAN's aggregate economy is one of the fastest growing in the world. It is expected to grow by 4.6% in 2019, and 4.8% in 2020, but at the cost of releasing around 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. That makes ASEAN a bigger source of greenhouse gas emissions than Japan (1.3 billion tons per year) or Germany (796 million tons per year). 

This is the only area in the world where coal is expected to increase its share in the energy mix. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), "Since 2000 overall [ASEAN] energy demand has grown by more than 80% and the lion's share of this growth is met by the doubling use of fossil fuels,... Oil is the largest element in the regional energy mix and coal, mostly for power generation, has grown the fastest." ASEAN has been criticized for not doing enough to mitigate climate change despite being the world's most vulnerable region in terms of climate impacts. 

ASEAN has many opportunities for renewable energy. With solar and wind power plus pumped hydro storage from rivers, the ASEAN power industry can achieve very high penetration (78%–97%) of domestic solar and wind energy resources at competitive electricity costs ranging from US$55 to US$115 per megawatt-hours based on 2020 technology costs. Vietnam's experience in solar and wind development has relevant implications for other ASEAN countries.

ASEAN Community Program

The ASEAN Community program is a framework for achieving greater integration and cooperation among the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The program consists of three pillars: the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

The ASEAN Political-Security Community aims to promote regional peace, stability, and security through political dialogue and cooperation among member countries. This includes efforts to resolve disputes and promote conflict resolution, as well as initiatives to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation and promote cybersecurity in the region.

The ASEAN Economic Community aims to create a single market and production base for the region, with the goal of promoting free trade, investment, and the free movement of goods, services, capital, and skilled labor. The economic community aims to enhance competitiveness, reduce trade barriers, and promote economic growth and development in the region.

The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community aims to promote social progress and cultural exchange among the member countries. This includes initiatives to promote education, health, and environmental sustainability, as well as efforts to promote cultural heritage and foster greater understanding and appreciation of the diverse cultures and traditions within the region.

The ASEAN Community program also seeks to promote cooperation and dialogue between ASEAN and its partners, including other countries and international organizations. Through its various initiatives and programs, the ASEAN Community program aims to build a more integrated, cohesive, and resilient region that is able to address the economic, political, and social challenges facing Southeast Asia.

Overall, the ASEAN Community program is a comprehensive framework for achieving greater integration and cooperation among the member countries of ASEAN. The program aims to promote regional peace, stability, and security, as well as economic growth and development, social progress and cultural exchange, and greater cooperation with the international community.