Asean needs to evolve as true regional bloc

IF the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) really wants to achieve its true potential as a powerhouse of immense economic and geopolitical influence, each of the 10-member states must look and grow beyond the notions of national thinking and espouse a truly regional mindset.

Cohesion within Asean is vital to attaining the true potential of the Asean Community 2020, the pursuit of which it adopted in the annual meetings in Cebu in 2012, proclaiming with bells and whistles in the Cebu Declaration of 2012 the vision for an integrated economic region cultivating its collective identity and strength to engage with the larger global economic community.