SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS, ASSOCIATION OF

(ASEAN) international organization established by the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand on Aug. 8, 1967, to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development and to promote peace and security in the Southeast Asia region. Brunei became a member in 1984, and Vietnam was admitted in 1995. ASEAN replaced the Association of South East Asia (ASA), which had been formed by the Philippines, Thailand, and the Federation of Malaya (now part of Malaysia) in 1961. ASEAN's chief projects involve economic cooperation, promotion of trade both among ASEAN nations and between ASEAN nations and the rest of the world, and programs for joint research and technical cooperation between member nations. Held together somewhat tenuously in its early years, ASEAN achieved a new cohesion in the mid-1970s in the face of the changed power balance in Southeast Asia following the end of the Vietnam War. Greater self-confidence was also a factor, born of the dynamic economic growth experienced by the member nations during the 1970s. Thus, for example, the member states were able to make a unified response to the takeover of Cambodia by Vietnam in 1979. ASEAN's first summit meeting, which was held in Bali in 1976, resulted in agreement on several industrial projects and the signing of a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and a Declaration of Concord. The end of the Cold War allowed the ASEAN nations to exercise greater political latitude in the region. As they began to implement new policies, member nations saw their influence and economies grow. In the 1990s ASEAN emerged as a leading voice on regional trade and security issues. Members created the ASEAN Free Trade Area, a pact that reduced intraregional tariffs and eased restrictions on foreign investment, in 1992. ASEAN's organizational structure consists of summit meetings, which bring together heads of state of member countries; ministerial conferences for the foreign ministers of the member states, held annually in each country in rotation; the standing committee, consisting of the foreign minister of the country that is host to the ministerial conference and the ambassadors of the other five, which conducts business between ministerial conferences; a permanent secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, headed by a secretary-general (which position rotates among member nations every three years); and a number of other committees, subcommittees, and ad hoc groups. The organization publishes an annual report, as well as the semimonthly ASEAN Newsletter.