According to a 2008 research brief published by the World Bank as part of its Trade Costs and Facilitation Project, ASEAN members have the potential to reap significant benefits from investments in further trade facilitation reform, due to the comprehensive tariff reform already realised through the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.

* ASEAN Free Trade Agreement

During the summit, the ASEAN-Korea Investment Agreement was signed to boost economic and trade relations between ASEAN and South Korea After the summit, Najib said Malaysia is keen on emulating South Korea in developing a small-scale nuclear reactor for power generation, as well as South Korea ’ s other low-carbon green technology.

In response the 1997 Southeast Asian haze, the ASEAN countries agreed on a Regional Haze Action Plan ( 1997 ) and later signed the Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution ( 2002 ) however the pollution is still a problem today.

In 1986, Nair rose to the post of Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry where he was involved in the Uruguay Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ( GATT ) negotiations, as well as with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ).

The ASEAN Multilateral Agreement on Air Services and the ASEAN Multilateral Agreement on the Full Liberalisation of Air Freight Services which were simultaneously approved on May 20, 2009 in Manila, Philippines are multilateral air transport agreements among the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Regional trade in services agreements are also negotiated and signed between regional economic groupings such as CARICOM, North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ) and ASEAN.

Brunei joined ASEAN on January 7, 1984, one week after resuming full independence, and gives its ASEAN membership the highest priority in its foreign relations.

Suharto allowed the occupation of PDI headquarters to go on for almost a month, as attentions were also on Jakarta due to a set of high-profile ASEAN meetings scheduled to take place there.

Laos is a member of the following international organizations: Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation ( ACCT ), Association of Southeast Asian NationsASEAN, ASEAN Free Trade Area ( AFTA ), ASEAN Regional Forum, Asian Development Bank, Colombo Plan, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific ( ESCAP ), Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ), Group of 77G-77, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( World Bank ), International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ), International Development Association ( IDA ), International Fund for Agricultural Development ( IFAD ), International Finance Corporation ( IFC ), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Labour Organization ( ILO ), International Monetary Fund ( IMF ), Intelsat ( nonsignatory user ), Interpol, International Olympic Commission ( IOC ), International Telecommunication UnionITU, Mekong Group, Non-Aligned Movement ( NAM ), Permanent Court of Arbitration ( PCA ), United Nations, United Nations Convention on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD ), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ), United Nations Industrial Development Organization ( UNIDO ), Universal Postal Union ( UPU ), World Federation of Trade Unions, World Health Organization ( WHO ), World Intellectual Property Organization ( WIPO ), World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ), World Tourism Organization, World Trade Organization ( observer ).

Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma stated that mining operators used drugs on employees to improve productivity, with needles shared, raising the risk of HIV infection: " These rubies are red with the blood of young people.

The Philippines is a founding and active member of the United Nations since its inception on October 24, 1945 and is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ).

Australia has devoted particular attention to relations between developed and developing nations, with emphasis on the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) — Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Brunei — and the island states of the South Pacific.

Australia is an active participant in the ASEAN Regional Forum ( ARF ), which promotes regional cooperation on security issues.

As well as this, Australia is in the process undertaking studies on Free Trade Agreements with ASEAN, China, Chile, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.

ASEAN ( ), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on August 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand as a display of solidarity against communist expansion in Vietnam and insurgency within their own borders.

* India's Perspectives on ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific Region.

After the independence of Brunei from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984, services commenced to Jakarta on 3 January, thus linking all five ASEAN capital cities at the time – Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Singapore – to Brunei.

ASEAN on the other hand has been inviting the small nation to many of ASEAN ministerial meetings as a sign of goodwill.

In 2007 East Timor signed the ASEAN Treaty on Amity and Co-operation.

For example, before the ASEAN meeting in 1997, he made a speech condemning the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, calling it an oppressive instrument by which the United States and other countries try to impose their values on Asians.

At the 30th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting held in Subang Jaya, Malaysia, the foreign ministers issued a joint declaration on 25 July 1997 expressing serious concern and called for further intensification of ASEAN's cooperation to safeguard and promote ASEAN's interest in this regard.

Each ASEAN member may impose tariffs on goods entering from outside ASEAN based on its national schedules.

* 1967 – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The RGC is an Asian Development Bank ( ADB ) member, a member of ASEAN, also a member of the WTO.

A cornerstone of Indonesia's contemporary foreign policy is its participation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ), of which it was a founding member in 1967 with Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

The city is the seat of the ASEAN Secretariat.

Malaysia is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference ( now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation ).

After the completion of 58-billion dollar Dawei deep seaport, Burma is expected be at the hub of trade connecting Southeast Asia and the South China Sea, via the Andaman Sea, to the Indian Ocean receiving goods from countries in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, and spurring growth in the ASEAN region.

Burma is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) and part of ASEAN + 3 and the East Asia Summit.

South Korea is a member of the United Nations, WTO, OECD, ASEAN Plus Three, East Asia Summit ( EAS ), and G-20 major economies.

It is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth, ASEAN and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Singapore supports the concept of Southeast Asian regionalism and plays an active role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ), of which Singapore is a founding member.

In accordance with this worldview, Singapore ’ s foreign policy is aimed at maintaining friendly relations with all countries, especially Malaysia, Indonesia, and ASEAN, and ensuring that its actions do not exacerbate its neighbors ’ insecurities.

In November 2004, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ), of which Vietnam is a member, and China announced plans to establish the world ’ s largest free-trade area by 2010.

* August 8 – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) is founded in Bangkok, Thailand.

Since Cambodian admission into the union in 1999, East Timor is the only Southeast Asian country that is not part of ASEAN, although plans are under way for eventual membership.

According to the plan established by ASEAN, this stretch is scheduled for completion by 2020 ; it will form part of the Singapore – Kunming Rail Link project, overseen by the ASEAN – Mekong Basin Development Cooperation ( AMBDC ).

In Asia ASEAN is moving towards adopting the ISO's TC 207 environmental management system.

Asean Free Trade Area ( AFTA ) is a trade bloc agreement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations supporting local manufacturing in all ASEAN countries.

When the AFTA agreement was originally signed, ASEAN had six members, namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

All the four latecomers were required to sign the AFTA agreement in order to join ASEAN, but were given longer time frames in which to meet AFTA's tariff reduction obligations.

Under the agreement the ASEAN secretariat hosts a co-ordination and support unit.

De Jesus, representing San Beda College, signed an agreement with the Presidents of Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia ; Universitas Kelantan, Malaysia ; Ho Chi Minh Business University, Vietnam ; and University of St. Galen, Switzerland ( in collaboration with Singapore ), establishing the ASEAN Network for Inter-Cultural Management and Economic Studies ( ANIMES ).

* On 27 July 2010, International Business Machines ( IBM ) and RP, signed an agreement that makes the institution the first IBM Authorised Training Partner in ASEAN to offer professional certification and training on mainframe technology in Singapore and the region.