ASEAN's first Dialogue Partner was the European Economic Community. This was probably because ASEAN found it logical at that time to anchor its external relations on its partnership with another regional organization, one that was showing the way to regionalism The special Coordinating Committee of ASEAN Nations, or SCCAN, was formed in 1972 to conduct relations with the EEC. By getting the Europeans to link up with it, ASEAN for the first time won recognition for the association from a major international player. As recalled above, Adam Malik, the Indonesian foreign minister, observed in 1973 that it was ASEAN's solidarity that gained it that recognition.