Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) : ASEAN is an Asian regional grouping, comprised of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It was established in August 1967, and was originally intended to stave off the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. Its objectives, as stated in the Bangkok Declaration (1967) were to accelerate economic growth and promote regional peace and stability. In January 1992, its member states agreed to establish a free trade area, and to cut tariffs on non-agricultural goods over a fifteen-year period. ASEAN is committed to promoting liberalization in trade, investments, industry and services. It is however, not too keen on developing into a common market or an economic union such as the European Union. In 1977, ASEAN established a forum with Japan, and a cooperation agreement with the European Community in 1980. Since the formation of ASEAN, the economic fortunes of many of its members have been turned around, particularly in the first half of the 1990's. This was evidenced, among other things, in high growth rates and the diversification of their economies into electronics manufacturing and heavy industrialization. Because of this rapid economic upsurge, some ASEAN countries were referred to as the "Asian Tigers"
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