- Economic Ministers from Brunei Darussalam (ASEAN Country Coordinator for AANZFTA) and Indonesia (ASEAN Chair 2023), as well as Australia and New Zealand, gathered at the sidelines of the 28th ASEAN Economic Ministers – Closer Economic Relations (AEM-CER) Consultation in Semarang, Indonesia on 22 August 2023 to sign the Second Protocol to Amend the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (2nd Protocol).
- The signing of the 2nd Protocol is the culmination of three years of negotiations to upgrade the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-AustraliaNew Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA). It reaffirms AANZFTA Parties’ resolve to accelerate post-pandemic economic recovery efforts, which Leaders conveyed when they announced the substantial conclusion of the upgrade negotiations at the sidelines of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 13 November 2022. The Upgrade is a significant milestone towards ensuring that the AANZFTA remains of high-quality, responsive to emerging challenges, takes into account modern trade practices, and remains commercially meaningful to businesses in the region. In addition, the Upgrade was intended to maximise AANZFTA’s synergies and complementarities with other regional trade initiatives for resilient and inclusive growth in the region.
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- ABOUT ASEAN
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, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.Menu - WHAT WE DO
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
Menu - WHO WE WORK WITH
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.
Menu - OUR COMMUNITIES
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
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