Together, its member states represent a population of more than million people and land area of over 4. The primary objectives of ASEAN, as stated by the association, are "to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region", and "to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.
The creation of ASEAN was initially motivated by the desire to contain communism , [ 27 ] [ 28 ] which had taken a foothold in mainland Asia after World War II , with the formation of communist governments in North Korea , China , and Vietnam , accompanied by the so-called communist "emergency" in British Malaya , and unrest in the recently decolonized Philippines.
ASEAN's first summit meeting, held in Bali , Indonesia , in , resulted in an agreement on several industrial projects and the signing of a Treaty of Amity and Cooperation , and a Declaration of Concord. The treaty took effect on 28 March after all but one of the member states had ratified it. It became fully effective on 21 June after the Philippines ratified it, effectively banning all nuclear weapons in the region.
Besides their close geographic proximity, political scholars consider Southeast Asian nations a cultural crossroads between East Asia and South Asia , located at critical junctions of the South China Sea as well as the Indian Ocean , and as a result received much influence from Islamic and Persian influences prior to the European colonial ages. Since around BCE, the Southeast Asian archipelago occupied a central position at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea trading routes, which stimulated the economy and the influx of ideas.
Besides various indigenous scripts, various abugida Brahmic scripts were widespread in both continental and insular Southeast Asia. Historically, scripts such as Pallava , Kawi from ancient Tamil script and Rencong or Surat Ulu were used to write Old Malay , until they were replaced by Jawi during Islamic missionary missions in the Malay Archipelago. On 15 December , the member states met in Jakarta to launch the charter signed in November , to move closer to "an EU -style community".
