Greater international recognition and bargaining position. ASEAN has achieved a status as the most successful regional grouping among the developing countries and as the second most successful one, after the European Union, at the global level. As such, ASEAN’s voice and role in regional and international fora, such as in APEC, ARF, ASEM and the UN has been significant. The development of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was in fact initiated by ASEAN and the organisation revolves around ASEAN. Such international recognition would have been difficult to attain by most of the ASEAN members individually.