The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, Cambodia on 30 April 1999, and Timor-Leste on 26 October 2025 making up what is today the eleven Member States of ASEAN.
ASEAN organs always strive to achieve ASEAN’s goals and objectives, the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat shall be functioned as coordinating Secretariat to help facilitate effective decision-making withing and amongst ASEAN bodies. In addition, each Member State shall appoint a Permanent Representative to liaise with Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat
ASEAN shall develop friendly relations and mutually beneficial dialogues, cooperation and partnerships with countries and sub-regional, regional and international organisations and institutions. This includes external partners, ASEAN entities, human rights bodies, non-ASEAN Member States Ambassadors to ASEAN, ASEAN committees in third countries and international organisations, as well as international / regional organisations.
The rodmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) was declared by the leaders in 2009. The ASEAN Community, anchored on three community pillars: Political-Security Community, Economic Community, Socio-Cultural Community was launched in 2015. The ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together was introduced in 2015 as a Post-2015 Vision. It comprises the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, Cambodia on 30 April 1999, and Timor-Leste on 26 October 2025 making up what is today the eleven Member States of ASEAN.
ASEAN organs always strive to achieve ASEAN’s goals and objectives, the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat shall be functioned as coordinating Secretariat to help facilitate effective decision-making withing and amongst ASEAN bodies. In addition, each Member State shall appoint a Permanent Representative to liaise with Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat
ASEAN shall develop friendly relations and mutually beneficial dialogues, cooperation and partnerships with countries and sub-regional, regional and international organisations and institutions. This includes external partners, ASEAN entities, human rights bodies, non-ASEAN Member States Ambassadors to ASEAN, ASEAN committees in third countries and international organisations, as well as international / regional organisations.
The rodmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) was declared by the leaders in 2009. The ASEAN Community, anchored on three community pillars: Political-Security Community, Economic Community, Socio-Cultural Community was launched in 2015. The ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together was introduced in 2015 as a Post-2015 Vision. It comprises the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025
Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, today had an Interface with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), in Manila, the Philippines. The meeting exchanged views on AICHR’s ongoing work and priorities in advancing human rights cooperation and dialogue in ASEAN, in
Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, today joined the ASEAN Foreign Ministers in the Meeting of the Commission on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) in Manila, the Philippines. The Commission discussed, among others, on the implementation of the Plan of Action to Streng
The ASEAN Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Platform is developed by the European Union through the ASEAN-EU Technical Assistance Facility to the Green Team Europe Initiative (TAF-GTEI), and hosted by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), with endorsement of the ASEAN Working Group o
Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, today participated in the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Interface with Representatives of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), held on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings, in M
The Executive Committee of the Commission on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ EXCOM) convened today in Manila to review the progress in the implementation of the Plan of Action to Strengthen the Implementation of the SEANWFZ Treaty (2023-2027) and reaffirmed ASEAN’s strong
The ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) convened today in Manila. The Meeting discussed preparations for the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and Related Meetings, and other topics under ASEAN Community-building and ASEAN’s external relations. The Meeting was attended by ASEAN SOM Lead
Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, on 18 July 2026, delivered remarks at the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, held on the sidelines of 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China. Dr. Kao was joined by heads of government, international organi
The Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR) convened today in Manila for its seventh meeting of the year, marking the commencement of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings. The CPR exchanged views on key issues pertaining to ASEAN Community-bu
On the sidelines of his participation in the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), in Shanghai, China, Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, on 17 July 2026, met with Mr. Zhou Wei, Vice President of Huawei, at the Huawei Lianqiu Lake R&D Center. The meeting provided the
At the invitation of H.E. Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro, Chair of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) 2026 and Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines, Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, will lead the ASEAN Secretariat’s delegation to participate in the 59th &n
