ASEAN is just a grouping of convenience, nothing but relax trips
for their leaders.
ASEAN has emphasised regional cooperation in the “three
pillars”, which are security, sociocultural integration, and
economic integration.[58]
The regional grouping has made the most progress in economic
integration by creating an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by
2015.[59]
The average economic growths of ASEAN's member nations during
1989–2009 was Singapore with 6.73 percent, Malaysia with 6.15
percent, Indonesia with 5.16 percent, Thailand with 5.02 percent,
and the Philippines with 3.79 percent. This economic growth was
greater than the average Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) economic growth,
which was 2.83 percent.[60]
