Enlargement of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Criteria

One of the criteria for membership is that a prospective member must agree to subscribe or accede to all the treaties, declarations and agreements in ASEAN, starting with those outlined in the Bangkok Declaration of 8 August 1967 and those elaborated and developed in various subsequent treaties, declarations and agreements of ASEAN. One common concern that must be addressed through negotiations is the ability of a prospective member to participate in ASEAN Free Trade Area and all other economic co-operation arrangements. One important means of orientation for a prospective member is its attendance at ASEAN meetings and participation in co-operation projects.

Bangkok Declaration lays down no conditions for membership other than location in Southeast Asia and the usual principles of inter-state relations. ASEAN has no membership criteria related to the character of government, ideological system and orientation, economic policy, or level of development. If there were such criteria for membership, a regional association would not be possible in Southeast Asia, given its diversity. To be admitted as ASEAN member state, a state must maintain embassies in all current member countries of the bloc.

Criteria for observers

ASEAN senior officials agreed in 1983 that observer status "should be granted only to potential members of ASEAN who satisfy the criteria set for ASEAN membership". One of the criteria states, "only states in the Southeast Asia may join ASEAN."

Criteria for ASEAN Regional Forum

ASEAN Regional Forum, the multilateral dialogue among Asia Pacific countries is aimed for fostering dialogue and consultation, also promoting confidence-building and preventive diplomacy throughout the region. The membership criteria for ARF, as well as other Dialogue Partners, were outlined during the second ARF in 1996, in Jakarta. ARF ministers adopted the criteria that ARF participants must be sovereign states, which, at China's behest, was evidently meant to exclude Taiwan. They must "abide by and respect fully the decisions and statements already made by the ARF". The criteria stress that ASEAN members "automatically" take part in the ARF.

Founding members

ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967, when foreign ministers of five countries– Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand met at the Thai Department of Foreign Affairs building in Bangkok and signed the ASEAN Declaration, more commonly known as the Bangkok Declaration. The five foreign ministers: Adam Malik of Indonesia, Narciso Ramos of the Philippines, Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam of Singapore, and Thanat Khoman of Thailand are considered as the organisation's Founding Fathers.

Continued expansion

In 1976, the Melanesian state of Papua New Guinea was accorded observer status. The bloc then grew when Brunei Darussalam became the sixth member after it joined on 8 January 1984, barely a week after the country became independent on 1 January.

On 28 July 1995, Vietnam became the seventh member.

Laos, Burma, and Cambodia

The latest three members of ASEAN began their application in joining the bloc in the decade of the 1990s.

Laos became an ASEAN Observer at the 25th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Manila in July 1992. At the 28th AMM in Bandar Seri Begawan, the Lao Foreign Minister announced that he wished to see Laos join ASEAN in 1997. This desire was stated in Laos' letter of application for membership in ASEAN dated 15 March 1996.

Cambodia was accorded ASEAN Observer status at the 28th AMM in Bandar Seri Begawan in July 1995. The Cambodian Foreign Minister applied for ASEAN membership for Cambodia in his application letter dated 23 March 1996. Like Laos, Cambodia also wished to join ASEAN in 1997.

The Foreign Minister of Myanmar attended the 28th AMM in Bandar Seri Begawan as a Guest of the Host Government. He attended the 27th AMM in Bangkok in 1994 in the same capacity. During the 28th AMM, Myanmar acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and applied for Observer status in ASEAN. The Head of Government of Myanmar joined the Heads of Government of Laos and Cambodia in a meeting with the ASEAN Heads of Government during the Fifth ASEAN Summit in Bangkok on 15 December 1995. He expressed the hope that Myanmar would be accorded Observer status in ASEAN at the forthcoming 29th AMM in Indonesia in 1996.

The ASEAN Security Committee (ASC) established a Working Group on the Membership of Cambodia and Laos to look into all issues under the ASC's purview relating to preparations for and by these two prospective members to join ASEAN. The Working Group is chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN, Mr. Mahadi Haji Wasli. On 17 July 1996, the Working Group held consultations with the Director-General of the ASEAN Department of Laos in Jakarta.

At the 29th AMM, Myanmar was accorded Observer status in ASEAN. The Foreign Minister of Myanmar held consultations with ASEAN and participated in the ASEAN Regional Forum for the first time. On 12 August 1996, the Foreign Minister of Myanmar submitted his country's application for membership in ASEAN. He has also expressed his wish for his country to join ASEAN by 1997, along with Cambodia and Laos.

The ASC has extended the mandate of its Working Group on the Membership of Cambodia and Laos to include the membership of Myanmar.

Laos and Burma (Myanmar) became members of ASEAN on 23 July 1997. Cambodia was to have joined together with Laos and Myanmar, but was deferred due to the country's internal political struggle. The country later joined on 30 April 1999, following the stabilisation of its government.

During the 1990s, the bloc experienced an increase in both membership as well as in the drive for further integration. In 1990, Malaysia proposed the creation of an East Asia Economic Caucus composing the then-members of ASEAN as well as the People's Republic of China, Japan, and South Korea, with the intention of counterbalancing the growing influence of the United States in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as well as in the Asian region as a whole. This proposal failed, however, because of heavy opposition from the United States and Japan. Despite this failure, member states continued to work for further integration and ASEAN Plus Three was created in 1997.

In 1992, the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme was signed as a schedule for phasing tariffs and as a goal to increase the region’s competitive advantage as a production base geared for the world market. This law would act as the framework for the ASEAN Free Trade Area. After the East Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, a revival of the Malaysian proposal was established in Chiang Mai, known as the Chiang Mai Initiative, which calls for better integration between the economies of ASEAN as well as the ASEAN Plus Three countries (China, Japan, and South Korea).

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been an observer of the regional bloc since 1976, earlier than any other non-original member of ASEAN.

Leaders of PNG have been pushing for full membership since at least the 1980s. During the 29th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting held in Jakarta in 1996, Papua New Guinea's Foreign Minister, Kilroy Genia, expressed his country's desire to further strengthen its interactions with ASEAN by proposing that Papua New Guinea be accorded permanent associate membership with ASEAN. Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Michael Somare stated during his visit to the Philippines in 2009 that his country was considering applying for full membership. In March 2012, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his support for PNG membership in ASEAN. In June 2013 PNG's Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato reiterated that the country was "very interested" in joining ASEAN.

Their geographical location could be an obstacle to PNG's admission to ASEAN. Although located no farther away from Jakarta, headquarters of ASEAN, than northern Myanmar, PNG is usually considered to be outside Southeast Asia and the continent of Asia. When the country was granted the observer status in 1976, it was acknowledged that PNG shares the same political and economic region with ASEAN's member, and connected geographically, because the country forms half of the huge island of New Guinea, with Indonesia's provinces of Papua and West Papua comprising the other half. A subsequent decision in 1983 limited membership to Southeast Asian countries.

In 2015, Papua New Guinea appoint a special envoy to deal with matters related to ASEAN, the appointment reflects PNG's determination to become a full member of the current 10-member ASEAN bloc and to expedite the process. PNG were also currently doing the necessary things to prepare itself for integration.

Timor-Leste

In March 2011 Timor-Leste submitted a membership application to the ASEAN, a move which was supported by Indonesia, its former colonialist turned partner-ally, and the Philippines, its only Catholic ally in Asia.

The country which gained its independence in 2002 made its debut in the Southeast Asian Games, a multi-sport event which commonly associated with ASEAN, from 2003. The country firstly invited to the ASEAN Regional Forum in 2005, making it the 25th country to join the forum. The biggest struggle for the country is to maintain embassies in all ASEAN members; from 10 current members of the regional association, one of the world's youngest countries only maintains four embassies. Timorese President José Ramos-Horta hoped to gain membership before 2012.

The lack of consensus on the question of East Timor's membership has prevented ASEAN from arriving at decisions on ASEAN observer status for East Timor and its accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. The treaty makes clear distinctions between the rights of regional and non-regional signatories, but whether East Timor a part of the region is debatable.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong objected in late 2011 to East Timor's membership, due to his desire to achieve economic integration by 2015, which the relatively less developed East Timor would make difficult. Although ASEAN has no membership criteria regarding political ideology, some ASEAN countries have difficulties with East Timor's eventual membership, including East Timor's foreign-policy orientation, alleged presence of Portuguese functionaries all over its government, and Burma's objection to media articles by East Timorese personalities supportive of the National League for Democracy. Some member states are concerned that, having experienced the entry of four relatively underdeveloped members, ASEAN would be admitting an even poorer one.

In 2015, East Timor said it is now ready to join the association at any time, telling via East Timor ambassador to Malaysia that their country had at least fulfilled two major requirements for Asean membership such as the country was located in this region and it had opened embassies in ASEAN member countries.

In 2016, Indonesia announced that Timor-Leste's ASEAN membership bid could be realized in 2017, since the feasibility studies conducted by both countries on Timor-Leste's stability, security, economy, and culture will be finished by the end of 2016. On top of that, the Philippines, a close ally of Timor-Leste, will be the ASEAN host for 2017.

Bangladesh

Laos supports Bangladesh getting observer status in ASEAN.

Fiji

Indonesia supports Fiji getting observer status in ASEAN.