Travel

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Established in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aims to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to promote regional peace and stability through the rule of law and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.

ASEAN comprises ten countries: Burma, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

ASEAN has ten Dialogue Partners: Australia, Canada, China, EU, India, Japan, New Zealand, ROK, Russia and the United States. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) also has dialogue status.  Australia became ASEAN's first Dialogue Partner in 1974.

Statistics

ASEAN Meetings

ASEAN holds annual Head of State/Government-level Summits towards the end of each year. At this time, ASEAN Leaders hold Summit-level meetings with Leaders of the “plus three” countries (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea) as a group as well as individually. Since 2002, ASEAN Leaders have also held an annual Summit with India. The East Asia Summit (EAS) is also held at this time.

ASEAN holds regular ministerial and senior officials’ meetings across a number of portfolios throughout the year.  The focal point of the year for foreign ministers is the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC), normally held in July.  This is immediately followed by the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). The PMC is attended by the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and its dialogue partners.  The focal point of the year for economic ministers is the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meetings (AEM), normally held in August.  The AEM is attended by Economic Ministers of ASEAN and a number of dialogue partners.

The 13th ASEAN Summit was held in Singapore on 20 November 2007.  At this Summit, Leaders signed the ASEAN Charter which – once ratified – will provide a legal and institutional framework to support the realisation of ASEAN’s objectives, including regional integration. The next ASEAN Summit is expected to be held in late 2008 in Thailand.

ASEAN documents, statements and meeting schedules can be viewed at www.aseansec.org

ASEAN Structure

The ASEAN Secretariat, based in Jakarta, Indonesia, coordinates, initiates and implements ASEAN activities.  The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, who is appointed for a five-year term and accorded ministerial status.  Dr Surin Pitsuwan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, assumed the post of Secretary-General of ASEAN on 7 January 2008.  The Chair of ASEAN is rotated between the ten countries on an annual basis, and acts as host of the Summit and key ministerial meetings.  Singapore is the current Chair of ASEAN, with Thailand as its successor.

ASEAN has several specialised bodies to implement inter-governmental cooperation in various fields, such as the ASEAN Agricultural Development Planning Centre and the ASEAN Centre for Energy.  In addition, ASEAN promotes dialogue and consultations with professional and business organisations, such as the ASEAN-Chambers of Commerce and Industry and ASEAN Business Forum.  A number of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have formal affiliations with ASEAN.

Australia's Relationship with ASEAN

As its first Dialogue Partner, Australia has a longstanding and deep relationship with ASEAN, covering cooperation in a range of areas from security, cultural, economic, education and development.  Along with Australia’s participation in annual ASEAN meetings with Dialogue Partners, the ASEAN-Australia Forum is held every 18 months to two years, most recently in November 2006 in Thailand.

At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference, held in Manila on 1 August 2007, Australia and ASEAN signed a Joint Declaration on the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Partnership. The Plan of Action to implement the Comprehensive Partnership was adopted in November 2007 and provides a framework for future engagement, covering political and security, economic, socio-cultural and development cooperation.

Australia and ASEAN first formalised trade relations in a Memorandum of Understanding on ASEAN-Australia Trade Cooperation in 1976.  In 2006-07, ASEAN received around 12 per cent of Australia’s total exports, and was the source of 19 per cent of Australia’s imports.  To further strengthen our trading relations, Australia, together with New Zealand, is currently negotiating a comprehensive, WTO-consistent Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN. When concluded, possibly by mid-2008, this agreement will further consolidate Australia's economic integration with the region and complement our existing bilateral agreements with Singapore and Thailand.

Education services are Australia’s largest services export to ASEAN. Australia is a leading provider of on-shore and off-shore education services to the region, with over 70,000 students from ASEAN countries studying at Australian educational institutions in 2007.  Academic and institutional links between Australia and ASEAN continue to strengthen with many Australian universities setting up offshore campuses.

Our people-to-people links are also strong, with high-levels of tourism and travel between Australia and ASEAN countries and dynamic cultural relations: tours by performing arts groups and cultural exhibitions are a regular feature of our cultural exchanges with ASEAN countries.

Australia has worked in partnership with ASEAN for over 30 years to build economic cooperation and prosperity in the region. Australia has committed more than $50 million to the ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Program since 2002.  In addition, Australia provides substantial development assistance to individual ASEAN countries on a bilateral basis. 

Further information on Australia’s development assistance to the region can be found at AusAID.

ASEAN-Australia documents: