BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Formation of ASEAN
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or
ASEAN, was established on August 8, 1967 in
Bangkok, Thailand. The founding members of
ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand were the initial signatories
of the ASEAN Declaration, which was also known
as the Bangkok Declaration. For almost 16
years and five months, these nations maintained
their co-operation and understanding among
themselves for mutual benefits, and later further
enhanced and strengthened ASEAN to include
more Member States.
ASEAN accepted five more new members;
Brunei Darussalam on January 7, 1984, Vietnam
on 28th July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on July
23, 1997, and Cambodia on April 30, 1999. Thus,
ASEAN is currently a regional group consisting of
10 Member States.
The noble objectives of ASEAN were set
out in the ASEAN Declaration. ASEAN seeks to
strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and
peaceful community of Southeast Asian nations
by creating a conducive environment which
encourages joint endeavours on the basis of
equality and partnership.
ASEAN hopes that the co-operation and
understanding together with the mechanisms thus
forged would accelerate the economic growth,
social progress and cultural development within
her Member States. ASEAN also hopes to promote
regional peace and stability by upholding the
respect for law and justice.
One of the noble aims of ASEAN is to
collaborate and co-operate for the expansion of
their trade and mutual assistance on matters
of common interest in the economic, technical,
scientific, social and cultural fields.
In their modus operandi, the ASEAN Member
States have adopted the fundamental principles as
contained in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in
Southeast Asia [TAC] of 1976. These fundamental
principles are:
Mutual respect for the independence,
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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
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one another
Settlement of differences or disputes by
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peaceful manner
Renunciation of the threat or use of force
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Effective Co-operation among member
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states
Noting that world trade is becoming more
competitive and is being liberalised through World
Trade Organisation [WTO], taking cognisance
that there are about 90 WTO Members with
the European Community [EC] considered as
one Member and realising that even developed
countries were forming economic blocs and
economic communities, the ASEAN leaders, at
the 9th ASEAN summit in 2003, resolved that an
ASEAN Community shall be established.
The Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of
the Establishment of an ASEAN Community by
2015 was signed on January 2007. The three
pillars of the ASEAN Community are ASEAN
Political-Security Community, ASEAN Economic
Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
To effect the formation and the implementation
of the ASEAN Community, the ASEAN Charter
entered into force on December 15,2008. This
Charter, which provided the legal status and
institutional framework for ASEAN, has become
the legally binding agreement among the 10
ASEAN Member States.
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General Agreement on Trade in Services [GATS]
and ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services
[AFAS]
The General Agreement on Trade in Services
[GATS] came into existence in April 1974 and
is one of the instruments of the World Trade
Organisation [W TO]. The Agreement exists
because members of WTO recognize the growing
importance of trade in services for the growth
of world economy, and wish to establish a
multilateral framework of principles and rules for
trade in services with a view to the expansion
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