Milestones of ASEAN Economic Community Establishment
Birth of ASEAN
The signing of the ASEAN Declaration also known as the Bangkok Declaration on 8 August 1967 marked the first formal agreement to establish ASEAN. The five founding nations of ASEAN were Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. ASEAN was later joined by Brunei in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos & Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia 1999.
AEC Blueprint 2015
Subsequently, the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM) held in August 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, agreed to develop “a single and coherent blueprint for advancing the AEC by identifying the characteristics and elements of the AEC by 2015 with clear targets and timelines for implementation of various measures as well as pre-agreed flexibilities to accommodate the interests of all ASEAN Member Countries.”