The Bangkok Declaration united the ASEAN member countries in a joint effort to promote economic cooperation and welfare of the people in the region. The Bangkok Declaration set out guidelines for ASEAN’s activities and defined the aims of the organization. The ASEAN nations came together with three main objectives in mind: to promote the economic; social and cultural development of the region through comparative programs; to safeguard the political and economic stability of the region against big power rivalry; and to serve as a forum for the resolution of the intr-regional differences.

The First Summit Meeting was held in Bali, Indonesia in February 1976, during which, the five Member Countries signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in the Southeast Asia and the Declaration of ASEAN Concord. Both documents signified ASEAN’s aims towards ensuring regional peace and stability to foster economic and social growth and enhancing the need for cooperation with all peace-loving nations. At this meeting, a small permanent secretariat was also established in Jakarta to provide administrative support and to help in coordination of ASEAN activities.

The Second Summit Meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August 1997 to commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of ASEAN and to assess the progress in the implementation of the decisions taken at the Bali Summit.

The Third Summit Meeting took place in Manila, Philippines in December 1987. The trust of this Summit was on economic cooperation. The Member Countries signed the Manila Declaration and set up the ASEAN Plan of Action. The protocol Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia was also signed to enable countries outside the ASEAN region to accede to the Treaty.

The Fourth Summit was held in Singapore in January 1992. The ASEAN heads of Government signed the Singapore Declaration of 1992 and the Framework Agreement on Enhancing ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) within 15 years. Member Countries also signed the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme which is the main instrument to established AFTA and enlarged the functions of the ASEAN Secretariat to carry out its new mandate.

The Fifth Summit was held in Bangkok, Thailand in December 1995.

ASEAN: An Overview
Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat, (1995)