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ASEAN mantra: Unity, solidarity and centrality
The regional grouping has brought not only peace but also prosperity.
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ASEAN has brought not only peace but also prosperity. (Shutterstock/File)
M
inisters of ASEAN member nations are gathering in Manila this week to prepare the agenda for the forthcoming 31st ASEAN Summit and related meetings in November. They will also participate in the regional grouping’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in Manila on Aug. 8.
ASEAN’s 50-year trajectory is amazing.
“The first 50 years of ASEAN has been a success story during which [it] successfully established an ecosystem of peace and prosperity for the region,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on July 19 at a one-day international conference in Jakarta on “Strengthening Cooperation and Inclusiveness.”
Over the last five decades, ASEAN has successfully transformed Southeast Asia, once dubbed a troubled territory, into a region of peace, prosperity and stability.
Echoing a similar view, two Singaporean scholars have described ASEAN as a “modern miracle” in their latest book, The ASEAN Miracle: A Catalyst for Peace.
“ASEAN is a living and breathing modern miracle,” co-authors Jeffery Sng and Kishore Mahbubani write.
Why? The regional grouping has brought not only peace but also prosperity. Today, the ASEAN region is the third-biggest economy in Asia and seventh-largest in the world, with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.5 trillion. This figure is almost double that of seven years ago, from $1.3 trillion in 2010.
