Explain the success of ASEAN as a regional organisation. (UPSC CSE Mains 2021 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 2)
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration which is also known as Bangkok Declaration by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. ASEAN had acted as a forum which has provided a fillip to regional integration and economic development. Various reasons for this contrasting nature of Success are as follows:
- Seamless connectivity among the ASEAN countries has been one of the major factors behind the integration of the region and boost of the intra-regional trade. Waving entry requirements, promoting the region as a tourist destination are some of the steps taken.
- ASEAN has always shown its ability to resolve disputes swiftly and without any major bilateral-tensions. The North-Borneo dispute between Philippines and Malaysia and claims over south china sea are such instances where the members have mitigated the problem through the peaceful mechanism.
- ASEAN has shown rapid growth in its trade. Both intra-regional trade and investment are very high as compared to other regional groupings and stand at 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.
- The major Economic Strengths of ASEAN are
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- ASEAN commands far greater influence on Asia-Pacific trade, political, and security issues than its members could achieve individually.
- Demographic dividend –As of 1 July 2019, the population of the ASEAN was about 655 million people (8.5% of the world population).
- Economic:
- Major global hub of manufacturing and trade, as well as one of the fastest-growing consumer markets in the world.
- 7th largest economy in the world. It is projected to rank as the fourth-largest economy by 2050.
- ASEAN has the third-largest labor force in the world, behind China and India.
- Free-trade agreements (FTAs)
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- ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area
- ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreements
- ASEAN-India Free Trade Area
- ASEAN – Japan Free Trade Area
- ASEAN-Republic of Korea Free Trade Area
- ASEAN – Hong Kong, China Free Trade Area
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- ASEAN is the fourth-largest exporting region in the world, trailing only the European Union, North America, and China/Hong Kong acccounting for 7% of global exports.
- ASEAN has contributed to regional stabilityby building much-needed norms and fostering a neutral environment to address shared challenges.
- ASEAN has attached great importance to enhance people-centered Community, contributing to social progress by reducing poverty, enhancing ASEAN’s identity, and safeguarding human rights. The ASEAN Socio Cultural Community is all about realizing the full potential of ASEAN citizens. On such, ASEAN has devotedly fostered functional cooperation in many areas among themselves and with its external counterparts from different continents not only to promote a cultural agenda, but also cooperation towards protecting and preparing its citizens from natural disasters, pandemics, effects of climate change, while enhancing people-to-people connectivity.
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