ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the region’s political and economic bloc. It was founded on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, when Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand signed the Bangkok Declaration.

ASEAN has 11 member states: the five founders plus Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997), Cambodia (1999) and Timor-Leste, admitted as the eleventh member in 2025. Its secretariat is in Jakarta, and its motto is “One Vision, One Identity, One Community.”

The ASEAN Summit of heads of state is the supreme body. Below it sit the ASEAN Coordinating Council and three Community Councils — Political-Security, Economic and Socio-Cultural. A Secretary-General runs the Jakarta secretariat: Kao Kim Hourn of Cambodia has held the post since 2023.

The chairmanship rotates annually among members, and decisions are taken by consensus — the “ASEAN Way.”

ASEAN runs the ASEAN Economic Community, a single market and production base, and anchors the wider region through the ASEAN Regional Forum, the East Asia Summit and free-trade deals — above all RCEP, the world’s largest trade pact, signed in 2020. Its doctrine of “ASEAN centrality” keeps the bloc at the centre of Indo-Pacific diplomacy.

• ASEAN, asean.org — Charter, members, secretariat.
• Bangkok Declaration, 8 August 1967 — founding declaration.
• ASEAN Charter, 2007 — in force December 2008.
• RCEP Agreement, 2020.

ASEAN has 11 member countries, ranked by national power. The strongest members are Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The Bureau lists every member with its power score, from the most powerful to the least. Membership reflects the Factbook's country coverage as of October 2026.