Appendix - Text of the Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Summary

The text of the ASEAN Charter is reproduced here with the permission of the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Indonesia.

In addition to the main text, the Charter includes four indexes. Annex 1 is reproduced here in its entirety because it shows the span of bodies under each of the three pillars in the ASEAN Community—pillars to which various authors in ths book refer. The remaining three annexes are not reproduced, but are instead summarized at the end of the reprinted Charter text.

The ASEAN Charter, together with its four Annexes, may be viewed and online and downloaded in PDF format, from the ASEAN website at <http://www.aseansec.org/21069.pdf>.

PREAMBLE

WE, THE PEOPLES of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as represented by the Heads of State or Government of Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam:

NOTING with satisfaction the significant achievements and expansion of ASEAN since its establishment in Bangkok through the promulgation of The ASEAN Declaration;

RECALLING the decisions to establish an ASEAN Charter in the Vientiane Action Programme, the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Charter and the Cebu Declaration on the Blueprint of the ASEAN Charter;

MINDFUL of the existence of mutual interests and interdependence among the peoples and Member States of ASEAN which are bound by geography, common objectives and shared destiny;

INSPIRED by and united under One Vision, One Identity and One Caring and Sharing Community;

UNITED by a common desire and collective will to live in a region of lasting peace, security and stability, sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and social progress, and to promote our vital interests, ideals and aspirations;

RESPECTING the fundamental importance of amity and cooperation, and the principles of sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, non-interference, consensus and unity in diversity;