The Philippines’ ASEAN chairmanship coincid

es with a historic milestone event—the 50th anniversary of the founding of our Association. It will be an occasion for us to set the tone for the next 50 years.

Founded in 1967, ASEAN has since matured into a community focused on economic integration and growth, and consensus-building. This is the “ASEAN Way” and it has resulted in unprecedented growth. ASEAN is both the world’s seventh-largest market and third-largest labor force, and has been projected to become the fourth-largest economic bloc by 2030.

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, AugusAdditionally, the group established the ASEAN Economic Community last year to create a single market and production base—facilitating even closer economic, political, social, and cultural cooperation. As we celebrate our shared success for the last 50 years, we look with excitement to the future as we work hand in hand to partners for real change.t 4) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), during its 50th Anniversary Grand Celebration, will celebrate its roots through the "Tribute to the Founding Fathers of ASEAN" activity  on August 8.

The event, which will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center Plenary Hall in Pasay City, will recognize the five ASEAN founding fathers-former Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak of Malaysia, former Foreign Ministers Adam Malik of Indonesia, Narciso Ramos of the Philippines, S. Rajaratnam of Singapore, and Thanat Khoman of Thailand.