By Selcuk Colakoglu
The global importance of the Asia Pacific region is steadily rising. During the last two decades the centre of the global economy has shifted from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in stimulating greater interest in developments in Asia. One of the topics there which arouses most interest is the various movements for regional integration. ASEAN [Association of South East Asian Nations] heads the field among them as the oldest and still the most influential exemplar.
ASEAN was founded in 1967. Today the organization has ten members, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. ASEAN extends over a land area of 4.5 million square kilometers with a population of 600 million people. It has an important mission, both to secure peace and stability in the region and also to encourage economic development. ASEAN is not simply an organization which brings the countries of Southeast Asia together; it is coming to be the centre for all the organizations of the continent of Asia.
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