The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded on 8 August 1967 when

the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines completed
negotiations on the 1967 ASEAN Declaration (also known as the Bangkok Declaration). Against a
backdrop of the Cold War and the tumultuous transition to independence occurring in many
Southeast Asian states. ASEAN is an alliance promoting economic and political cooperation by
fostering dialogue among its ten members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. ASEAN is becoming a major economic
powerhouse in the region, having signed free-trade agreements (FTA) with China, Australia, New
Zealand, India, Japan, and Korea. ASEAN’s objective at its founding was “to accelerate the
economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through joint endeavors in
the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and
peaceful community of South-East Asian Nations”.

The three pillars of the ASEAN Community, namely the ASEAN Political-Security Community
(APSC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community
(ASCC), are the most crucial areas deemed necessary for the progress and evolution of ASEAN and
its peoples. The Blueprints of these three communities have been carefully formulated to detail
specific strategic objectives and actions which intend to achieve progress and positive development
in the respective areas. Human rights seem to underpin all the three pillars of the ASEAN
Community although they may not be explicitly stated in the objectives, strategies or actions of the
Blueprints. As human rights encompass the principles of non-discrimination, equity, justice and
human dignity, it is therefore logical that human rights are directly or indirectly are pertinent to the
ASEAN Community.

ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) Blueprint is the first pillar of ASEAN. The
objectives of the APSC are are to ensure that the peoples and Member States of ASEAN live in
peace with one another and with the world at large in a just, democratic and harmonious
environment. A cohesive, peaceful, stable and resilient region with shared responsibility for
comprehensive security including a dynamic and outward-looking region in an increasingly
integrated and interdependent world. The full implementation of this Blueprint is expected to bring
about prosperity in the region and protects the interests and wellbeing of ASEAN people. As the
APSC Blueprint seeks to mainly achieve an enhancement in political stability, democracy and good
governance through creating a just, democratic and harmonious environment, human rights are
expectedly apparent in this Blueprint. Respect for the promotion and protection of human rights and
fundamental freedoms is identified in this Blueprint as one of the main elements in enhancing
political development.

The next, ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint. The objective of the ASEAN
Economic Community (AEC) is to transform ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods,
services, investment, skilled labor, and freer flow of capital. As mentioned earlier, among the four
key characteristics identified in the AEC Blueprint is “a region of equitable economic development”.
Recognizing the importance of equitable economic development for all peoples, the actions under
Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) include human resource development, information and
communication technologies, capacity building, poverty reduction and improvement in quality of life.
In addition, enabling economic development throughout ASEAN is also an important objective of the
AEC which enhancing the food, agriculture and forestry trade, the health of the peoples is not
forgotten. In fostering a culture of competitiveness, consumer protection is strengthened through
establishing the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Consumer Protection and establishing a
network of consumer protection agencies to facilitate information sharing and exchange.

Last pillar of ASEAN will be the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint. The
ASCC is adopted to realize a people-oriented, socially responsible. ASEAN community with the view
of achieving solidarity, unity and a common identity as well as building a sharing and caring society.
The characteristics envisaged in the ASCC Blueprint are human development; social welfare and
protection; social justice and rights; ensuring environmental sustainability; building the ASEAN
identity; and narrowing the development gap. All these issues, except for building the ASEAN
identity, pertain directly to human rights. Besides, areas of cooperation in this community include
culture, arts and information, disaster management, education, environment, health, labour, rural
development and poverty eradication, social welfare and development, youth and civil service
cooperation.

However, there are a lot of challenges faced by ASEAN in order to promote the main three
pillars. Firstly, ASEAN has been criticized as an elite-driven and state-centric project. This is
illustrated by the fact that activities and projects of ASEAN are only known among experts, political
leaders, and government officials but little information is disseminated to the citizens and concerned
stakeholders. This low awareness level is a factor hindering the overall achievement of community
building, as expressed by ASEAN’s Secretary General Le Luong Minh in his remarks on ASEAN’s
community building efforts in March 2013. The next, failure to establish a rules-based Community of
shared values and norms will definitely affect the successful attainment of equitable economic
development among the peoples and social justice and rights, especially those of the vulnerable and
marginalized groups. In addition, as human rights underpin ASEAN Community, any of the violations
will affect APSC, AEC and ASCC, though not necessarily to the same extent.

Single Market and Production Base

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) envisions ASEAN as a single market and production base
characterized by free flow of goods, services, investments, capital, and labor.

AEC initiatives will help ASEAN investors fully tap on the potential of ASEAN’s 600 million-market
and enable companies in the region to access raw materials, production inputs, services, labor, and
capital wherever they choose to set-up their business operations. This means companies can save
on production costs, focus on its specialization, or maximize economies of scale without necessarily
leaving high potential market areas within the region.

Competitive Economic Region

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) envisions ASEAN as a competitive economic region.
Investors can be assured that as ASEAN Member States work towards realising this vision,
businesses can expect reforms and initiatives that aim to establish the following:

 Culture of fair competition among companies

 Intellectual property rights protection resulting to enhanced creativity, strong innovation, and
advanced technologies
 Efficient and integrated transportation network at air, land, and sea
 Secure and connected info

Equitable Economic Development

 ASEAN is committed to reducing the development gap in the region. To achieve this, the
region aims to stir the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the
ASEAN Blueprint for SME Development. ASEAN also seeks to strengthen the
implementation of technical assistance and capability building programmes for public and
private sectors needing assistance in some ASEAN countries through the Initiative for
ASEAN Integration (IAI).
 With the success of these initiatives, investors can expect strong participation of small and
medium enterprises (SMEs) in the building of regional production network which will assure
them of wider options for suppliers and partners from supporting industries. Investors can
also benefit from the IAI as beneficiary ASEAN governments will be more capable to develop
and implement economic policies that would further boost the positive effects of the ASEAN
Economic Community.

Integration into the Global Economy

 Amid increasing globalization, ASEAN aims to become a more dynamic and stronger
segment of the global supply chain and is determined to look beyond the borders of the
ASEAN Economic Community.
 Investors can be assured that the region continues to review the free trade area (FTA)
agreements and comprehensive economic partnerships (CEP) to which it is a party to, with
the goal of allowing ASEAN businesses to penetrate and integrate into the global economy.