August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEANS was officially formed with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration or Bangkok Declaration by the founding fathers of ASEAN, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, the membership has expanded to include like Brunei Darussalam who joined on January 1984, Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999. They are called today the ten Member States of ASEAN. ASEAN is an organization of countries in Southeast Asia that aims the acceleration of economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and to provide opportunities to discuss differences peacefully between the member countries. The five foreign ministers that are considered the organization’s founding fathers are Adam Malik of Indonesia, Narciso Ramos of the Philippines, Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam of Singapore and Thanat Khoman of Thailand.
The aims and purposes set out in the ASEAN Declaration are: to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through joint endeavors in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian Nations; to be able promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries of the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter; to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields; to provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities in the educational, professional, technical and administrative spheres; to collaborate more effectively for the greater utilization of their agriculture and industries, the expansion of their trade, including the study of the problems of international commodity trade, the improvement of their transportation and communications facilities and the raising of the living standards of their peoples; to promote Southeast Asian studies; and to be able to maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes, and explore all avenues for even closer cooperation among themselves.
As contained in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation on Southeast Asia (TAC) of 1976, the ASEAN Member States have adopted the following fundamental principles: mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations; the right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion; non-interference in the internal affairs of one another; settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner; renunciation of the threat or use of force; and effective cooperation among themselves.
This organization hold meetings that is known as the ASEAN Summit where heads of governments meet to discuss and resolve issues, to conduct other meetings with other countries outside of the bloc with the intention of promoting external relations. The Vision of ASEAN in 2020 that is adopted by the ASEAN leaders on the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies.