The Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Today in Philippine History (Philatelic Edition Series 2):

August 8, 1967

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was created when foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand met and signed the ASEAN Declaration. 

Their  motivation was the communist threat. It was preceded by the Association of Southeast Asia, which was composed of the Philippines, Federation of Malaya and Thailand on July 31, 1961. 

ASEAN is a regional body that is comprised of Southeast Asian countries that promotes intergovernmental cooperation, facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other Asian states. 

On December 15, 2008, ASEAN member states met in Jakarta, Indonesia, where its Secretariat is located, to launch the charter that was signed in 2007. 

The charter made ASEAN a legal entity with the aim to create a single free-trade area for the region that has 500 million people. 

ASEAN today is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

(Design, concept, stamps and research: Richard Allan B. Uy) All rights reserved

Photo credit: wikipedia.org