The Association of Southeast Asian Nations[4] (ASEAN /si.n/ AH-see-ahn,[5] rarely / zi.

n/ AH-zee-ahn)[6][7] is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore andThailand.[8] Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Its aims include acceleratingeconomic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.
[9]

ASEAN covers a land area of 4.46 million km, which is 3% of the total land area of Earth, and has a population of approximately 600 million people, which is 8.8% of the world's population. The sea area of ASEAN is about three times larger than its land counterpart. In 2010, its combined nominal GDP had grown to US$1.8 trillion.[10] If ASEAN were a single entity, it would rank as the ninth largest economy in the world.

From CEPT to AEC

A Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme to promote the free flow of goods within ASEAN lead the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).[65] The AFTA is an agreement by the member nations of ASEAN concerning local manufacturing in all ASEAN countries. The AFTA agreement was signed on 28 January 1992 in Singapore.[67] When the AFTA agreement was originally signed, ASEAN had six members, namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Vietnam joined in 1995, Laos and Burma in 1997, and Cambodia in 1999. The latecomers have not fully met the AFTA's obligations, but they are officially considered part of the AFTA as they were required to sign the agreement upon entry into ASEAN, and were given longer time frames in which to meet AFTA's tariff reduction obligations.[68] The next step is ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) with main objectives are to create a: single market and production base highly competitive economic region region of equitable economic development region fully integrated into the global economy

Since 2007, the ASEAN countries gradually lower their import duties among them and targeted will be zero for most of the import duties at 2015.[69] Since 2011, AEC has agreed to strengthen the position and increase the competitive edges of small and medium enterprises (SME) in the ASEAN region.[70] aseanblogger.com has agreed to set up online ASEAN community with aim to raise people's awareness on the issue of AEC by 2015. The content of the portal currently consisted of subjects varying from security to culinary and in the future will also touch tourist sites and local culture.[71]

The Charter
Principles set out in the charter include: Emphasising the centrality of ASEAN in regional cooperation.

Respect for the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty, non-interference and national identities of ASEAN members. Promoting regional peace and identity, peaceful settlements of disputes through dialogue and consultation, and the renunciation of aggression. Upholding international law with respect to human rights, social justice and multilateral trade. Encouraging regional integration of trade. Appointment of a Secretary-General and Permanent Representatives of ASEAN. Establishment of a human rights body and an unresolved dispute mechanism, to be decided at ASEAN Summits. Development of friendly external relations and a position with the UN (like the EU) Increasing the number of ASEAN summits to twice a year and the ability to convene for emergency situations. Reiterating the use of the ASEAN flag, anthem, emblem and national ASEAN day on August 8.