Asean how many countries

ASEM is a network with no secretariat. It is a standing conference in which all topics can be discussed, experience exchanged, confidence built and partnerships nurtured. Two coordinators from each side give ASEM its permanent structures. Official website: Asia-Europe Meeting. The ARF deals with security issues and is the only institutionalised security-policy discussion forum in the Asia-Pacific region. For the EU , the ARF is the important forum in the Asia-Pacific for advocating its security policy concepts and promoting confidence-building and preventive diplomacy.

Afghanistan has been the eighth member since Because the Southeast Asian region, despite uniting historical influences, is very diverse and marked by cultural differences, the architects behind ASEAN were very keen to promote close cooperation between the neighboring states. The representatives of the five founding nations wanted to foster political stability in the region. Indonesia was the first country in which Bosch products were sold — in what was then known as Surabaya on the island of Java.

The trading company van Rijn represented Bosch there from The first world war had just ended and Bosch had to reconstruct its international business. It was during this phase of development that Bosch also moved into Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand , as well as the Philippines Bosch was still dependent on a relatively small product portfolio of entirely automotive technology.

This made expansion into new markets extremely important. Bosch applied the same strategy in these countries as in all markets where there were still relatively few cars, which made the right tactics imperative.

ASEAN has in turn benefited from economic growth: a considerable part of ASEAN's prestige as a grouping has been derived from the members' international image of being part of the 'East Asian miracle' of growth and long-term alleviation of poverty. The ASEAN members have therefore been disturbed by the currency problems in mid which affected first Thailand and which then spread to affect the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The causes of the recent round of currency instability in the region are still being assessed but it has been argued that some aspects of domestic policies in several states have increased their vulnerability to the kind of pressure which resulted in downward currency movements. In Thailand, for example, problems were associated with large inflows of foreign investment which were often used for relatively unproductive purposes, such as resort and real estate development and short term portfolio investments.

This was taking place in the context of a fixed exchange rate between the baht and the US dollar. Increasingly the value of the baht seemed to be above the level warranted by the fundamentals of the Thai economy. Ultimately, the confidence of investors faltered and the position of the currency came under pressure. Other regional economies have also been placed under pressure, particularly the Philippines which has also received IMF assistance and Indonesia which in mid August was forced to float the rupiah.

The pressure on Thailand and on several other ASEAN members inevitably affected the climate for the Ministerial Meetings in late July and attention was focused on the alleged role of currency speculators.

In their communique, the Ministers declared that they were seriously concerned at 'well-coordinated efforts to destabilise ASEAN currencies for self-serving purposes, thus threatening the stability of all ASEAN economies'.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir made highly publicised attacks on one well known speculator, George Soros, and he continued the criticism in August. These arguments have been contested by some financial analysts who have suggested that the criticism of financial speculators distracts attention from the internal policy problems of individual ASEAN members. For example, Jim Walker Chief Economist for Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia has commented that 'All the talk about foreign speculators is a diversion from the real issue.

The main cause is locals selling'. At the time of writing 2 September the IMF package for Thailand supported by Australia appears to have been received well. The issues about the precise causes of the round of currency problems in regional economies are continuing to be analysed.

A number of analysts have argued that while growth rates in the ASEAN economies may slow in the short run, the medium term prospects for growth continue to be favourable.

The currency problems, however, have highlighted the fact that the successful economic performance of the ASEAN economies cannot be taken for granted inside or outside the region. Some revised domestic strategies-including reforms to the banking sector and greater efforts to upgrade the skill levels of the work forces of ASEAN economies so that they are equipped to support the demands of rapid economic development-will be needed to bolster the prospects for continued growth.

The tension aroused by the currency problem in mid also directed attention to the value of boosting trade and investment in the ASEAN region and to the contribution which ASEAN as a group is seeking to make to this. In trade among the ASEAN members amounted to 23 percent of their total trade and it has been estimated that if goods transhipped through Singapore were to be discounted, the level of intra-ASEAN trade would fall to just 12 percent.

Nonetheless, intra-ASEAN trade has been growing at a faster rate than the countries' trade with the rest of the world the trend annual rate for growth of intra-ASEAN trade between and was ASEAN members are aiming to maximise the number of tariffs in the percent category by and zero percent by The AFTA agreement also requires the removal of all quantitative restrictions and other non-tariff barriers on goods brought within the scheme within five years.

ASEAN has also been working on a prioritised list of items on which non-tariff barriers are to be lifted. Overall progress on harmonising customs procedures however has been slow. ASEAN is also pursuing other areas of economic cooperation.

Work is also being conducted to follow through the Framework Agreement on Services and the Framework Agreement on Intellectual Property, both signed in December It is thus another way in which ASEAN is seeking to be at the forefront of regional cooperation activities. For example, Indonesia's pursuit of a 'national' car industry through a joint venture between an Indonesian company and South Korea's KIA Corporation has involved the imposition of barriers which are not compatible with AFTA's goals.

The addition of new ASEAN members need not slow the pace of tariff reductions already agreed to, since the target is legally binding. If the new members do not adhere to their timetables, the six 'older' members do appear to be likely to adhere to their agreed target of , although sensitive sectors such as rice and cars are proving difficult.

It is possible that some new members may wish to seek exclusion from AFTA for some sectors or industries: Vietnam, for example, might wish to seek exemption for some of its state-owned industries or conglomerates.

This kind of issue could slow the pace of cooperation. However, a recent Australian government report has argued that if the newer members seek to 'drop out' of key areas of ASEAN's economic cooperative activities, they run the risk of becoming marginalised in the wider regional context of liberalisation and growth.

Another important issue for ASEAN as it enters its fourth decade is the interplay between internal stability and regional 'resilience'. In Indonesia, President Suharto's continued dominance is accompanied by discussion about the succession issue, in Vietnam the generation of revolutionary leaders who led the anti-colonial struggle will be replaced by a younger generation, Thailand will in the medium future face the issue of a successor to the revered King Bhumibol, the Philippines will see a successor elected to replace the Presidency of Fidel Ramos which has seen great progress towards economic reform and growth, and in Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir will presumably be in time replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

In the case of Malaysia, a smooth process of leadership change may be expected on the basis of past experiences of orderly transitions. In other cases the outlook is much more uncertain. The focus which ASEAN will be able to retain as a group will clearly depend partly on effective processes of leadership and political change in the individual member countries. An accompanying important issue is that several of the region's senior leaders who are likely to depart from the political scene within the next decade have played vitally important roles in establishing and developing ASEAN-in several cases through its entire history.

As Professor James Clad has observed:. ASEAN's progress towards enlargement to include all ten Southeast Asian countries was severely disrupted by the upsurge of political tensions in Cambodia which led to the violent conflict in Phnom Penh on July, the ousting of First Prime Minister Prince Ranariddh and the assumption of a clearly dominant position by Second Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The developments since early July have created major problems for Cambodia, raised a new set of problems for ASEAN as it seeks to pursue dialogue and to redevelop a basis for Cambodia's entry, and added to debate on the extent to which ASEAN may be able to exercise a positive influence on internal developments in Southeast Asian countries.

The precise causes of the outbreak of conflict within the Cambodian government in early July are still emerging. Both parties actively sought the allegiance of defecting Khmer Rouge elements. These negotiations helped fuel an intense internal struggle in the Khmer Rouge in which those supporting negotiations were opposed by the movement's longstanding senior figure, Pol Pot.

After a fierce conflict within the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot was captured on 19 June and placed under arrest he was later presented to foreign media representatives during a show 'trial' in late July. On 4 July Prince Ranariddh and senior Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan reached a provisional agreement by which the Khmer Rouge would end their armed struggle, disband their provisional government, recognise the Constitution, recast themselves as the 'National Unity Party' and be allowed to rejoin the political system.

Prince Ranariddh, who had left Cambodia just before the outbreak of fighting was accused by Hun Sen of the illegal importation of arms and of planning to infiltrate Khmer Rouge forces into Phnom Penh. Hun Sen and the CPP were rapidly able to dominate the situation in the capital and in most of the country.

The reactions of individual ASEAN members, however, appeared to differ: Malaysia apparently remained in support of going ahead with the plan to accept Cambodia as a member, perhaps partly because of its concern for the image of the ASEAN meetings which it was hosting. Vietnam also supported Cambodia's early admission.

Thailand opposed Cambodia's immediate entry, supported by Singapore and Indonesia. At a meeting on 10 July, the ASEAN foreign ministers decided to delay Cambodia's entry and the foreign ministers of Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were appointed to try to mediate a solution. ASEAN's move came at a time of substantial international criticism of Hun Sen's actions, although no concerted international approach developed: for example, while two major aid donors suspended aid the US and Germany , others did not Japan and France , while Australia suspended military assistance but continued its civilian and humanitarian programs.

One tactic by Hun Sen has appeared to be an effort to exercise leverage in relation to ASEAN by playing on concerns about a possible rise in Chinese influence in Cambodia. The Phnom Penh Post in late July argued that:. On 20 August, for example, Hun Sen challenged ASEAN to grant early entry to Cambodia and criticised the idea that Cambodia should have to wait until the conduct of the scheduled elections before it was granted membership. He said in a radio broadcast that:. While the Cambodian government appears to be clearly predominant in the military conflict, it still faces substantial problems.

The economy has been affected badly by the fighting in early July in which many businesses were damaged by fighting or looting. The confidence of investors is likely to take a long time to revive. While aid programs remain in effect, actual aid deliveries have been severely hampered by the withdrawal of most foreign aid personnel in the aftermath of the fighting.

The internal political situation also cannot be regarded as fully stable. There has been some indication of internal disagreement within the CPP at the violent tactics pursued by Hun Sen who issued a warning against internal party divisions in mid August.

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