39th anniversary of the ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established 39 years ago on August 8, 1967. The ASEAN baton of leadership transfers this year to the Philippines from Malaysia. ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The Chairman, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, sees the need to focus on energy security as a means of achieving the union’s objective of economic integration. On the other hand, Senior US diplomat Christopher Hill urges Southeast Asian countries to cooperate more closely in the areas of security and disaster relief and preparedness.

From the mid-1960s until 1997, East Asian growth figures depicted an economic success story. The ASEAN countries consistently outperformed the countries of other developing regions of the previous 30 years. To international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), the countries of Southeast Asia were paragons of development whose sound, market based, foreign investment-friendly, export-oriented policies were to be commended. Economic reporters wrote that the values and cultures of these two countries made their approach to organizing their economies uniquely suitable to adapt and succeed in the rapidly changing world of globalization. Hence, the East Asian development was referred to in The Economist as the modernization of Asia and was described in many write-ups as a sobriquet ‘miracle’ and a phenomenon.

Much of East Asia’s development can be attributed to the important role that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has played over the years. ASEAN has become the key institution in Southeast Asia not only because of its success in developing a sense of community among its very disparate members, and in finding a road for them to closer economic cooperation. It has also become the forum for discussion with the main world powers on a wide range of matters, through the Annual post-Ministerial consultations held after ASEAN’s own internal consultations. This consultations form the mechanism through which ASEAN member governments, at Foreign Minister level, meet with their counterparts. These counterparts, termed "dialogue partners", currently are Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and the United States.

The founding of ASEAN came during a time of political turmoil and disputes among Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. This brought a realization to the five founding leaders that the moment for regional cooperation has come or else the future of the region would remain uncertain. After rigorous informal talks held in a huddle at an isolated beach resort in Bang Saen, a coastal town in Bangkok, the five participating Ministers – Narciso Ramos (Philippine Secretary for Foreign Affairs), Adam Malik (Presidium Minister for Political Affairs and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Indonesia), Tun Abdul Razak (Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia), S. Rajaratnam (First Foreign Minister, Singapore), and Thanat Khoman (Foreign Minister of Thailand) – signed the Bangkok Declaration, later on called the ASEAN Declaration. During the formal launching ceremonies, the first to speak was then Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Narciso Ramos, a one-time journalist and long-time legislator who had then given up the chance to be Speaker of the Philippine Congress to serve as one of his country’s first diplomats. He was then 66 years old and his only son, the future President Fidel V. Ramos, was serving with the Philippine Civic Action Group in embattled Vietnam. His speech then warned of "weakening individual economies whose growth objectives were limited by meager resources and nationalistic tendencies, while perpetuating dependence on advanced industrial nations". His challenge was "for ASEAN to marshall the still untapped potentials of the rich region through more substantial united action". Indonesia’s vision for the ASEAN was "a region which can stand on its own feet, strong enough to defend itself against any negative influence from outside the region". Malaysia conjured a vision of "an ASEAN that includes all countries of Southeast Asia". Singapore envisioned "a stable Southeast Asia, not a balkanized Southeast Asia, composed of countries that posits national interests against regional interests". Thailand envisions a Southeast Asia that is potentially rich, rich in history in spiritual as well as material resources, the light of happiness and well-being that will shine over the uncounted millions of our struggling people". All told, these visions of the founding leaders of ASEAN for the future of Southeast Asian countries have mostly been realized.

Now virtually all of Southeast Asia is committed to market economics. In its 39 years of existence, ASEAN should take a more proactive role in line with the borderless world economy by developing itself into a common regional market and eliminating trade barriers among member countries. The major economies of Southeast Asia are all growing at rates previously thought unattainable for a sustained period. There are of course some uncertainties about the future; but definitely Southeast Asia is now a major center of economic power and influence.