The ASEAN Regional Forum was established in 1994 and consists of 27 Participants, namely: Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, United States, and Viet Nam.

In undertaking its work, the ARF Ministers meet on an annual basis and are assisted by the ARF Senior Officials’ Meeting (ARF SOM) and several working-group level meetings on each areas of cooperation.

The work of the ARF is guided by the ARF Vision Statement adopted in 2009. To move the ARF process forward, the ARF Ministers adopted the Hanoi Plan of Action to Implement the ARF Vision Statement (HPOA) in 2010 and upon the end of tenure of the HPOA 2010, the ARF in 2020, adopted the ARF HPOA II (2020- 2025). The document contains policy guidance for the ARF to develop and implement concrete and practical actions under its areas of cooperation. The framework of the ARF is focused on the following areas of cooperation as identified in the HPOA II:

• Disaster Relief;
• Counter-Terrorism & Transnational Crime;
• Maritime Security;
• Non-Proliferation and Disarmament;
• ICTs Security,
• Defence Cooperation,
• Peacekeeping, and
• Confidence Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy.

For more information, please visit the ARF website at http://aseanregionalforum.asean.org/