ILLUSTRATIVE ASEAN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

AEM: ASEAN Economic Ministers
AMM: ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
AFMM: ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting
SEOM: Senior Economic Officials Meeting
ASC: ASEAN Standing Committee
SOM: Senior Officials Meeting
ASFOM: ASEAN Senior Finance Officials Meeting

*Ministerial meetings in agriculture and forestry, trade, energy, environment, finance, information, investment, labour, law, regional haze, rural development and poverty alleviation, science and technology, social welfare, transnational crime, transportation, tourism, youth, the AIA Council and, the AFTA Council. Supporting these ministerial bodies are 29 committees of senior officials and 122 technical working groups.

The highest decision-making body in ASEAN is the annual meeting of the ASEAN Heads of State and Government. Whenever decided, the ASEAN Summit is preceded by a Joint Ministerial Meeting (JMM) composed of Foreign and Economic Ministers. The ASEAN Standing Committee, under the Chairmanship of the Foreign Minister of the country-in-chair, is mandated to coordinate the work of the Association in between the annual ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM). The ASEAN Chair and Vice Chair are elected based on alphabetical rotation of all ASEAN Member Countries. The ASEAN Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, is mandated to “initiate, advise, coordinate, and implement ASEAN activities.” The operational budget of the ASEAN Secretariat is prepared annually and funded through equal contribution of all ASEAN Member Countries. ASEAN is supported by several specialized centres of excellence based on different ASEAN capitals. The Association is also supported by ASEAN Committees in Third Countries composed of Ambassadors of all ASEAN Member Countries based in the capitals of the ASEAN Dialogue Partners and other countries. ASEAN has 11 Dialogue Partners, namely Australia, Canada, China, European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, the United States and the United Nations Development Programme. In general, ASEAN makes decisions based on consensus and consultations. Other innovative ways of carrying out decisions are also employed as and when necessary and agreed upon.