ASEAN 50th Anniversary Facts and Figures

1. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia or officially the Republic of Indonesia (Capital: Jakarta), Malaysia (Capital: Kuala Lumpur), Philippines or officially the Republic of the Philippines (Capital: Manila), Singapore or officially the Republic of Singapore and sometimes referred to as the Lion City, the Garden City or the Little Red Dot (Capital: Singapore) and Thailand or officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam (Capital: Bangkok). 
2. Brunei Darussalam or officially the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace (Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan) became the sixth ASEAN member on 7 January 1984. 
3. Vietnam or officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Capital: Hanoi) became the seventh country to join ASEAN on 28 July 1995.
4. The countries of Laos or officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Capital: Vientiane) and Myanmar or officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma(Capital: Naypyidaw) became the eight and ninth members on 23 July 1997
5. The tenth country to join was Cambodia or officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia (Capital: Phnom Penh) on 30 April 1999.
6. A formal charter for ASEAN was signed in 2007 and came into force in 2008.
7.  The organization's secretariat is in Jakarta. ASEAN seeks to promote socioeconomic progress and regional stability through cooperation in banking, trade, technology, agriculture, industry, and tourism. Members agreed in 1992 to create the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), a regional common market, which became effective in 1993. Tariffs among the ASEAN nations have been greatly reduced, especially among the six oldest ASEAN members; a free trade area is slated to be established largely by 2015. ASEAN also has reached free-trade agreements with China (2004), South Korea (2006), Japan (2008), and Australia, New Zealand, and India (2009). Members are also pledged to work together to promote foreign investment in the region.
8. ASEAN is the fourth-largest exporting region in the world, trailing only the European Union, North America and China/Hong Kong.
9. ASEAN is home to 227 of the world’s largest companies.
10. The ASEAN Economic Community was formed on 31 December 2015.
11. Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines are included in the world’s top ten largest fish producers.
12. Seven of the world’s twenty-five recognized biodiversity hotspots – biologically rich areas under greatest threat of destruction are found in the ASEAN region.

References:

http://www.asean2017.ph/
http://iias.asia/the-newsletter/article/five-facts-asean
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-fun-facts-you-didnt-know-asean-michael-hofer
http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/understanding-asean-seven-things-you-need-to-know
http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/political-science-and-government/international-organizations/association
http://www.rappler.com/world/specials/southeast-asia/35944-fast-facts-asean-association-southeast-asian-nations
http://beta.philippine-trivia.com/trivias/institutions-society/trivias-about-the-association-of-southeast-asian-nations-asean.html
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/7-surprising-things-about-asean/
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2007-01/15/content_783167.htm
https://www.usasean.org/why-asean/quick-facts