now the association includes negara brunei darussalam (1987), vietnam 1995,laos and myanmar1997 ,and cambodia1999.
the purpose is to promote cooperation both between member countries or asean with other regions to collaborate in economics, social , cultures, science-technology, and politic security.
before establishment of asean, most countries in south east asia were poor and underdeveloped. they regarded themselves as agricultural and industrial countries.
also mast of them were small states and had less bargaining power with the other larger countries. they always were being taken advantage of. because of the reasons, counties in southeast asia region joined together to develop their economy and enhance their bargaining power and potentiality of trade. therefore, economics cooperation, politic, and society were inevitable.