The Association of Southeast Asian Nations

The Association of sou-east Asiatic Nations was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the sign of the ASEAN Declaration by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, capital of Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on January 8,1984, Viet Nam joined on July 28, 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar joined on July 23, 1997, and Cambodia on April 30, 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.The signing of the ASEAN Declaration established by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand represented an serious milestone for economic development and affirmed the commitment to the aims and purposes of ASEAN as desexualise forth in the ASEAN Declaration. To accelerate the economic growth, hearty progress and ethnical development in the region through joint endeavors in equality and partnership in order to strengthen the infrastructure for a prosperous and peaceful community of South-Ea st Asian Nations.To put forward regional peace and stability through abiding respect for arbiter and the rule of law in the relationship among countries of the region and adherence to the principles of the coupled Nations employ. To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of customary interest in the economic, social, cultural, good, 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 much effectively for the greater utilization of their tillage and industries, the expansion of their trade, including the study of the problems of international commodity trade, the improvement of their transportation and communication theory facilities and the raising of the living standards of their mints. To promote South-East Asian studies, to maintain belt up and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes, and explore in all avenues for even closer cooperation among themselves.This later evolved into the ASEAN Charter signed on celestial latitude 15, 2008, which served as a firm foundation in achieving economic growth, social development, and regional integration, by legally binding the ASEAN community to its rules and apprizes. The ASEAN quit flip-flop Area was established in January 1992 to eliminate tariff barriers among the Southeast Asian countries with a view to integrating the ASEAN economies into a single production lower-ranking and creating a regional market of 500 million people.The Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme for the ASEAN Free clientele Area requires that tariff rates levied on a wide swear of products traded within the region be reduced to no more than 5 percent. Although originally scheduled to be recognized by 2010, the target of a free trade area in ASEAN was c ontinuously moved forward. As early as 2000, most of the tariff lines on goods traded within ASEAN-6 (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei), representing nigh 90 percent of intra-ASEAN trade, were already in the 0-5 percent range.The elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers among the ASEAN members has served as a catalyst for greater efficiency in production and long-term hawkishness. The reduction of barriers to intra-regional trade gives ASEAN consumers a wider choice of better quality consumer products. only when 247 tariff lines within the region remained outside the remit of CEPT. The Council also announce that uptake of CEPT in the newer ASEAN member countries Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar (CLMV) was keeping pace with the original members.The CLMV countries are greatly underdeveloped and struggle economically compared to the ASEAN-6, CLMV total GDP is only about $97 billion only 7. 5% of the $1. 3 meg total ASEAN-6 gross domestic product. Cambodia one of the newest members of ASEAN has a trade value of $7. 58 billion as compared to Malaysias trade value of $323. 5 billion. ASEAN has created the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) program, which gives direction to and sharpens the focus of collective efforts in ASEAN to abridge the development gap between ASEANs older and newer members.Vietnam has expressed its concerns with there new membership to ASEAN and ASEANs Initiative for ASEAN Integration as they instance several possible economic disadvantages. Vietnam and the other ASEAN economies are essentially competitive not complementary, Vietnams developing industry faces potentially stiff challenges from its ASEAN counterparts. Vietnam was told they would contain to end its quota system, eliminate other non-tariff barriers, and enhance the transparency of its trade regime.These steps may aggravate Vietnams trade imbalance with ASEAN and increase an already growing trade shortfall. More than half of V ietnams trade deficit of $3. 5 billion is with other ASEAN countries. There is also the possibility that Vietnams tax base could be undermined by the in-flow of goods from ASEAN states as part of the AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area). At present Vietnam earns a portion of its domestic tax tax income from tariffs on imported goods. When these tariffs are lowered or eliminated the flow of revenue from this source to the central government will decline.Despite the difficulties of integration and the concerns of new ASEAN members the ASEAN Charter and the AFTA have seen economic growth by lowering barriers to trade among its member-countries, ASEAN is creating an structured regional market. This makes economies more efficient through a better variant of labor, through the benefits of economies-of-scale. It stimulates healthy competition, lowering costs. It enlarges the domestic market. The region thus becomes more attractive to investors, creating more jobs.The CMLV economies have on ave rage grown fleet than the ASEAN-6 countries during the past decade by 5. % compared to -8. 8% in 1998 and 8. 5% compared to 6. 4% in 2007. Over the age, ASEANs overall trade grew from $ 10 billion in 1967, $ 14 billion in 1970, $ 134 billion in 1980, $ 302 billion in 1990 to $ 650 billion in 1995. With its combined trade value, ASEAN is the fourth largest trading entity in the world after the European Union, the United States and Japan. For about 25 years from 1970 to 1995, ASEANs GDP grew at an average annual rate of 7. 0 percent. Today, Southeast Asia has a total market of about 500 million people and a combined GDP of more than US$ 700 billion.