ASEAN celebrates its 55th anniversary on Monday, August 8 which is also well-known as ASEAN Declaration Day. For this anniversary, ASEAN held an event with the theme of “ASEAN A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together” held on July 25-26, 2022. But, do you know the history of how ASEAN was created? Swipe left to uncover the history of ASEAN’s establishment.
Stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN was created on August 8, 1967. The founding fathers of ASEAN were Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Thailand, which were represented by the ministers of foreign affairs of each country and Malaysia’s deputy prime minister. The ASEAN Declaration was signed in the main hall of the foreign department building in Bangkok, Thailand.
From the broad outline, the ASEAN Declaration is a five pages document, including the purposes of the ASEAN establishment. ASEAN declared its establishment with the aim of cooperation in the economic, socio-cultural, educational, and other fields. It also promoted regional peace and stability through respect for justice and the rule of law. Every country in Southeast Asia can be a member of ASEAN as long as it obeys the principles and purposes of ASEAN.
Being annually held, ASEAN has taken different themes for its anniversary. On the 53rd anniversary, ASEAN adopted “Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN: Rising Above Challenges and Sustaining Growth” as the theme. ASEAN required every country to adapt to the “new normal”, but still increased togetherness and friendship between ASEAN countries.
On the 54th anniversary, ASEAN took the theme “We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper” which highlights ASEAN’s preparation in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic. We hope that ASEAN can fulfill all its hopes and goals in the future with those themes and efforts. Happy anniversary, ASEAN!
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