The
Association of South-East Asian Nations is an economic and political
organisation with ten member-nations. The ASEAN was formed on August 8, 1967.
The member-states are: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. The ASEAN was set up
with the objective to bring economic, political, cultural and social
integration among the nation-states and to settle the differences among them
peace-fully. The ASEAN is based on the three pillars, ASEAN Political-Security
Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
The main
incentives behind the creation of the ASEAN were regional peace and stability;
economic, political and socio-cultural growth; development and assistance in
matters of common interest; better utilisation of resources; raising the
standards of living of the people; maintaining peaceful, heathy, beneficial and
cooperative relations with other nation-states as well as other international
organisations; protecting the member-states from any external threat and
providing them with better security.
After the
Vietnam War, the ASEAN, during the 1970s, strengthened its economic conditions.
And, after the end of the Cold War, in the 1980s the ASEAN greatly practised
political indepen-dence and was one of the leading voices in regional trade and
security issues. For example, the ASEAN adopted a declaration to resolve
disputes in the South China Sea, promoted dialogue on regional security by
establishing the ASEAN Regional Forum, extended member-ship to North Korea, and
worked to resolve the conflict in East Timor. In 1992, the members reduced
intra-regional tariffs and eased restrictions on foreign investment by creating
the ASEAN Free Trade Area.1
The ASEAN
came up with the purpose of strengthening its position in the international
economy. The ASEAN started from a scratch and today if the ASEAN is considered
as one entity, it would be the seventh largest economy in the world, with a
combined GDP of $ 2.4 trillion in 2013. It is projected to rank as the fourth
largest economy by 2050.2 In terms of com-parable international exchange rate,
based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), the ASEAN’s GDP in 2012 reached PPP $
3.62 trillion while the ASEAN’s GDP per capita amounted to PPP $ 5689.3 With
such rapid growth the ASEAN in no time will be the hegemony.
The ASEAN
has various committees, which include technical, agricultural, socio-cultural
etc., headed by the Foreign Ministers, for develop-ment, betterment and
prosperity of every sector as well as the nation-states. For the same, the
ASEAN organises an annual summit meeting to bring together the heads of states
of the member- countries. The first summit was held in Bali, Indonesia in 1976.
This summit resulted in the emergence of several industrial projects and the
signing of a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and a Declaration of Concord. In
the early meetings it was decided that the summit would be held after every
five years. In 1992, the leaders decided to meet more frequently and as a
consequence the gap got reduced from five to three years. But, in the seventh
meeting in 2001, it was decided to meet annually to address the urgent issues
and find solutions for them as soon as possible. Other than the summit
meetings, the ASEAN also has a few topic-oriented meetings which focus on
topics like defence, environment, etc.
The
member-states of the ASEAN believe in effective information. A committee was
formed in 1978 to promote cooperation pertaining to information: the ASEAN
Committee on Culture and Information (COCI). The COCI was established with the
motive to promote and establish proper cooperation in information and culture
through its various projects and activities. The COCI has collaborated with the
ASEAN Media Cooperation during the 11th Conference in Malaysia which connected
the ASEAN people and helped in removing disparities among the cultures within
the region through both new and tradition media.
The
primary objective of any organisation is to increase the literacy rate, educate
the people, and spread awareness among them. The ASEAN has always strongly
focused on education. Unlike the developing countries, the member-states of the
ASEAN maximise their contribution towards public education (mainly primary and
secondary) but face tough problems regarding tertiary education. South-East
Asia does not possess a backbone with respect to academic salaries and research
infrastructure. The ASEAN Education Ministers left no stone unturned in
determining the four basic priorities towards education (in the context of the
ASEAN): 1. awareness among the citizens; 2. strengthening identity through
education; 3. development of human resource in the field of education; and 4.
strengthening the university network. The ASEAN is currently running various
educational and university network programmes to achieve the desired goals and
educate the youth to sustain economic growth.
The
leaders of the ASEAN member-states aimed for the ASEAN Vision 2020. This is an
idea of integration of 10 member-states of the ASEAN into one nation-state.
This Vision will not only ensure social and cultural unity but also strengthen
political and economic integrity. The idea of integration will uplift and
promote tourism in the ASEAN and thus indirectly help in economic growth and
development. As discussed above, the ASEAN integration would give a competitive
edge to the education side as well. Besides, the Vision will also help in
conserving and preserving the rich cultural heritage of the member-states. This
Vision may be a step towards increasing the standard of living by providing job
opportunities to the poorer sections of the society. The ASEAN integration
keeps “One Vision. One Identity. One Community” as the motive.
Happily,
the leaders of the ASEAN are paying attention to the small aspects as well. The
ASEAN foreign Ministers launched the ASEAN Communication Master Plan (ACMP) on
November 11, 2014. The ASEAN Communication Master Plan (ACMP) provides the
framework to communicate messages about the character, structure and overall
vision of the ASEAN and the ASEAN community to key audiences including local
communities of the ASEAN Member-States (AMS), women and children, youth,
governments, businesses, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), influencers, media
and global audiences. 4
Not
forgetting the issues of common interest, the ASEAN lacks a good power backup
or security. Major nations like the US and China are the leading hegemony in
every sense (including security); their defence and security are the strong
pillars for the nations. The ASEAN is continuously trying to suppress terrorism
and attacks, and has also laid urgency on the waterway (South-East China Sea)
issue as well.
Looking at
different aspects, the ASEAN also tried its best to promote peaceful and
healthy relations through sports. The leaders of the ASEAN designed a number of
motives for the promotion of sports and their regional culture. Their belief
was that sports enhances cooperation and develops a healthy lifestyle. Not only
this, it increases the unity among the nation-states within themselves and with
other nations too. For them, sports has been a means to execute regional
development, peace and stability. They wanted to promote sportsman-ship,
competitiveness and excellence in sports at both the regional and international
levels.
The ASEAN
organises cultural and educational activities as well to integrate the region,
for example, the ASEAN University Network, the ASEAN Outstanding Scientist and
Technologist Award, etc. The ASEAN is rich in its heritage and colourful
cultural diversity. The member- states of the ASEAN help in cooperation and
promotion of the above to build an ASEAN identity. The activities that the ASEAN
culture includes are: conservation and preservation of cultural heritage,
promotion of cultural industry with peace, and showcases of cultural
production. To cite some examples, 2009 saw the production of the coffee-table
book, Water: A Unifying Force in ASEAN; a workshop that gathered experts from
the region to discuss the prevention of illicit transfer and illegal
trafficking of cultural properties; a symposium involving ASEAN Museum
Directors and their engagement with the community, and the Third Best of the
ASEAN Performing Arts series (Singapore production) to raise awareness about
the region’s rich and diverse cultures.5
Speaking
of every aspect of the ASEAN, it would be wrong if the strength of the
Association is ignored from its grassroots. In the words of Dato Ajit Singh,
the then Secretary-General of the ASEAN, in his report to the Ministerial
Meeting: “The elevation of Functional Cooperation to a higher plane fortifies
the dynamic interactions between the three facets of ASEAN cooperation. Put simply,
political cooperation brings about peace and stability which makes possible
economic development and cooperation which, in turn, brings about progress and
prosperity. Functional cooperation provides the means for sharing that
prosperity. And shared prosperity brings about conditions conducive to peace.”6
His words clearly portray the functioning and trans-parency in the structure of
the working know-how. The basic idea of the leaders of the ASEAN was to unite
the citizens and strengthen the soul, identity and sense of communication. The
leaders are able to cater to the needs of the organisation as also of the
citizens to their maximum. Their rigorous and continuous efforts have brought
the ASEAN as an organisation to such great heights; yet a lot more has to be
done in various other sectors.
In
conclusion, at this point of time it is appropriate to record that the ASEAN
group of nations has emerged as an important entity from various points of
view. Cooperation amongst these nation-states has helped and will continue to
help each other. As individual nation-states it was difficult for each of them
separately to keep pace with the fast changing economic environment at the
global level. A collaboration amongst them has provided a platform to grow,
develop and prosper individually as also collectively.
The
leaders of the ASEAN members were firm in their policies regarding the
political, economic and socio-cultural aspects. They have One Vision, One
Identity, and One Community which enables them to stand strongly against any
other nation-state. From the past to the present, from what the ASEAN was to
what the ASEAN is, there has been a continually rising growth in every sector
and sphere of activity.
Considering
the increasing cooperation amongst the ASEAN nation-states and today’s economic
scenario, it is understood that by 2050 the ASEAN’s economy shall be the
leading economy and may fortunately be the hegemon. It is strongly supported
and structured by the ASEAN Economic Community. Foreign affairs and annual
summits too play an important role in the efficient working of the ASEAN. Major
issues and matters of urgency are discussed among the nations so as to maintain
harmony within the region. The ASEAN is successful in establishing cooperative
and peaceful external relations with other boundaries as well.
Further,
the ASEAN members managed to assemble all the technical know-how so as to
realise effective communication. Their strong communication is of special value
and importance, it helps in large networking programmes, integrating and
connecting the citizens of the ASEAN and also helps the Ministers to exercise
their power on the Communication Master Plan. It is a matter of high esteem
that the cultural heritage and sport events of the ASEAN are globally
recognised. They not only invite tourists but also help in economic, political
and social development which facilitates foreign invest-ment. As far as sports
is concerned, the only idea behind it is to keep the citizens healthy and bring
them closer to each other for the sake of unity. This may in future help
towards development of the human capital.
It is
often said there are two sides of the same coin; in the same way if we have
positive aspects of the ASEAN, we definitely have some negative aspects too.
There are two major issues that the ASEAN faces, namely, Education and
Security. The ASEAN is still working hard to improve its tertiary education,
establish university networks, etc. The ASEAN in a few coming years may
increase the salaries of the research scholars, provide them with better
infrastructure and establish universities for the same. As far as the security
issues are concerned, these are in an alarming state for the ASEAN to ponder
over the problem. Nonetheless, the ASEAN is engaged in continuous efforts to
suppress terrorism and enhance security. It is high time the ASEAN takes
efficient steps with regard to the South-East China Sea issue. It should take
proper action to resolve the anti-industrialisation problem in the Philippines
caused due to globalisation.
As of
now, if the ASEAN is analysed in the proper perspective, it is the most
successful organisation among the developing nations till date. It follows
utilitarianism. The ASEAN is confident enough to resolve its problems and
emerge as one of the principal multilateral organisations by 2050.
Shubhra
Bhargava
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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