KUALA LUMPUR — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) today (Nov 22) formally formed a single community, a significant milestone promising greater integration for the grouping founded almost five decades ago. 

In a grand ceremony this morning, the leaders of all 10 ASEAN member states signed a declaration to establish the ASEAN Community, with the primary goal to turn the region of 625 million people with a combined economic output of US$2.6 trillion (S$3.7 trillion) into a single market and production base by eliminating remaining trade barriers and harmonising standards.

The signing was followed by the striking of drums from the region by the leaders, including Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in a symbolic gesture of unity in diversity.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak — as ASEAN Chair — lauded the formation of the single community, which will come into effect on Dec 31.

“We have found strength in our diversity. Our ASEAN way has guided us and will continue to be our compass for a politically safe, economically integrated, socially responsible and a truly people-oriented, people-centred and rules-based ASEAN,” he said.

Even as the celebrations began, ASEAN is already looking ahead, with the concurrent signing of another declaration by the leaders that lays out the ideals of a community in the next decade. The new 10-year workplan seeks to consolidate ASEAN’s regional integration efforts, and contains refreshed
blueprints for the three pillars (political-security, economic and socio-cultural) that support the ASEAN Community.

Speaking to the Singaporea media after the summit, Prime Minister Lee said that a priority of ASEAN’s post-2015 integration agenda is to “strengthen the sense of ASEAN one-ness and identity.”

He added: “One of the reasons ASEAN finds it difficult to make progress together, is because there is not a very strong sense of ASEAN identity.

“People don’t think of themselves as being ASEAN, except when you have an ASEAN meeting and then you have singsongs together and you see what the ideal is. But to go from that ideal to a reality, I think there is some distance yet,” he said.

Mr Lee noted however that a coherent regional identity cannot be developed overnight and “is something we should work towards, decade by decade.”

The idea of an integrated ASEAN community was first discussed by the leaders in 2003, followed by the drawing up of various implementation documents.

But it is the economic pillar where an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) offers the most concrete opportunities for integration in a region whose combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.6 trillion would make it the world’s seventh-largest economy.

ASEAN’s GDP is expected to increase to US$4.7 trillion by 2020. The bloc is also forecasted to be the fourth largest economy in the world as early as 2030.

Some analysts say there is a long way to go before the AEC becomes fully functional, citing for instance, how the AEC blueprint currently has an implementation rate of 79.5 per cent due to the difficulties of harmonising domestic economic policies with regional rules.

“ASEAN members must show extra political will and courage to overcome the ‘unfinished business’ - to be specific 37 measures out of 506 measures in AEC blueprint, which have yet to be implemented,” Mr Kavi Chongkittavorn, Senior Fellow at Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Security and International Studies told TODAY.

Ms Moe Thuzar, lead researcher for Socio-Cultural affairs at the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) in Singapore added:

“To think that 2015 as the be-all and end-all for community-building would be like saying that ASEAN is static. There will be future milestones following to make sure that ASEAN continues to remain relevant amidst dynamic global and regional developments.”