Cohesive Journey Towards Recovery

Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten countries in Southeast Asia Sub-Continent which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates in many sectors. ASEAN has 10 permanent members which are Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

ASEAN was preceded by an organization formed on 31 July 1961 called the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA), a group consisting of Thailand, the Philippines, and the Federation of Malaya. ASEAN itself was created on 8 August 1967, when the foreign ministers of five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, signed the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration). The representatives of each country are Adam Malik from Indonesia, Tun Abdul Razak from Malaysia, Narsisco Ramos from the Philippines, S. Rajaratnam from Singapore, and Thanan Khoman from Thailand. On 7 January 1984, Brunei became ASEAN’s sixth member and on 28 July 1995, Vietnam joined as the seventh member. Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma) joined two years later on 23 July 1997. Cambodia was to join at the same time as Laos and Myanmar, but an internal political struggle delayed its entry. It then joined on 30 April 1999 following the stabilization of its government.

The symbolism of the ASEAN logo is:

1. The ASEAN Emblem represents a stable, peaceful, united, and dynamic ASEAN. The colors of the Emblem — blue, red, white, and yellow — represent the main colors of the state crests of all the ASEAN Member States.
2. Blue represents peace and stability, red depicts courage and dynamism, white shows purity and yellow symbolizes prosperity.
3. The ten bound stalks of rice in the center of the Emblem represent the member states of ASEAN. They represent the dream of ASEAN’s Founding Fathers for an ASEAN comprising all the countries in Southeast Asia, bound together in friendship and solidarity.
4. The circle represents the unity of ASEAN.

ASEAN also has a secretariat. The ASEAN Secretariat was set up in February 1976 by the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN. It was then housed at the Department of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia in Jakarta. The existing ASEAN Secretariat at 70A Jalan Sisingamangaraja, Jakarta was established and officiated in 1981 by the then President of Indonesia, H.E. Soeharto. The ASEAN Secretariat’s basic function is to provide for greater efficiency in the coordination of ASEAN organs and for more effective implementation of ASEAN projects and activities The ASEAN Secretariat’s vision is that by 2015, it will be the nerve center of a strong and confident ASEAN Community that is globally respected for acting in full compliance with its Charter and in the best interest of its people. The ASEAN Secretariat’s mission is to initiate, facilitate, and coordinate ASEAN stakeholder collaboration in realizing the purposes and principles of ASEAN as reflected in the ASEAN Charter.

This year is the first year ASEAN has held its online anniversary due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the whole world. This year’s anniversary carries a theme A Cohesive Journey Towards Recovery. This celebration aired on the ASEAN youtube channel on Saturday, 8 August 2020 at 09:00-09:45 (GMT+7). The keynote speaker in this celebration is H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi as The Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Retno L.P. Marsudi as The Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Indonesia, and H.E. Pham Binh Minh as The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

Happy 53rd Asean Day: A Cohesive Journey Towards Recovery