A charter governing the activities of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was adopted at the 13th ASEAN summit held in Singapore in November on the 40th anniversary of the regional grouping.

Among other things, the document calls for the establishment of a Committee of Permanent Representatives in Jakarta and a target for the promotion of free trade among member states.

These achievements notwithstanding, many media commentaries in Europe and the United States have taken a pessimistic view of ASEAN's future. Its effectiveness as an economic union has been waning, these comments assert, pointing to the lack of growth in the level of interdependence in intraregional trade.