It remains to be noted that most states did not really want a
highly structured and complex mul6lateral organiza6on; at
least for a start, it would be befer to have a more flexible and
informal arrangement
• In this light, most would look at ASEAN which had actually
been conduc6ng mee6ngs with its dialogue partners, namely,
selected Asia-Pacific states and EU, in what is called the Post
Ministerial Conference (PMC) aHer its ASEAN Ministerial
Mee6ng since the 1970s; moreover, ASEAN was also not
considered to be a threat to anyone unlike the major powers