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BY EDGARDO J. ANGARA
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Friday, April 28, 2017
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THIS WEEK opens the 30th ASEAN Summit, where the leaders of the 10 member-countries will meet at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) for the first of two high-level meetings. This Summit takes place as the Philippines plays host to year-long celebrations, conferences and meetings on the occasion of the 50th founding anniversary of ASEAN.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967, when Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand signed the Bangkok Declaration. Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia followed in that order in the intervening years.
Today, ASEAN is considered among the most successful regional supranational groupings in the world (especially in light of Brexit) — having enjoyed a long period of stability and high levels of engagement among its members.
Increasingly, ASEAN is becoming an attractive destination for investment, being the fourth-largest exporting region in the world, accounting for up to seven percent of global exports. Its population is 630-million strong, which the World Economic Forum (WEF) noted to be the biggest among all geo-political blocs.
More than half of ASEAN’s large consumer base are under 30 years old. And as more ASEAN youth are better educated and trained, significant demographic dividends are seen in the years to come.
In 2016, the combined GDP of the 10-nation bloc was worth US$2.5 trillion, almost double the US$1.3 trillion measured in 2010. During that same period, the WEF said that GDP per capita across the region increased by 76 percent. Some project that by 2050, ASEAN would become the fourth-largest economy in the world.
Such progress has been achieved amidst immense diversity in religion, race and legal tradition. Three of the world’s major religions — Christianity, Islam and Hinduism — are practiced in the region, and at times, right next to each other. For instance, the world’s largest Muslim country (Indonesia) maintains brotherly ties with Asia’s largest Christian country (the Philippines).
ASEAN is also home to individuals of various racial origins including Han Chinese, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian peoples from South Asia, and Malay-Austronesians. Such racial divisions once led to violent outbursts of conflict, but in ASEAN peoples now live in peaceful coexistence with each other.
There is also significant diversity in terms of legal traditions. Where most former British colonies like Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam follow common law (largely unwritten, precedent-based) systems, Thailand and Vietnam adhere to a continental or codal (“Napoleonic”) legal system. In contrast, the Philippines follows a mixture of the two.
Throughout history, differences in religion, race and law have caused deep discord. But in its five decades, ASEAN exemplifies how unity and progress can be achieved despite such diversity. (angara.ed@gmail.com| Facebook & Twitter: @edangara/PN)
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