Context:

The online ASEAN Special Summit and ASEAN+3 Special Summit on Covid-19 response took place in Hanoi, Vietnam, chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, chairman of ASEAN and ASEAN+3.

About:

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (more commonly known as ASEAN) is an intergovernmental organization aimed primarily at promoting economic growth and regional stability among its members.
• There are currently 10 member states: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
• Chairmanship of ASEAN rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of Member States.
• ASEAN was founded half a century ago in 1967 by the five Southeast Asian nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Economic importance of ASEAN:

• If ASEAN were a country, it would be the seventh-largest economy in the world, with a combined GDP of $2.6 trillion in 2014.
• It is projected that by 2050, ASEAN will rank as the fourth-largest economy in the world.
• It also has the third-largest labor force in the world, behind China and India.