ASEAN was first formed in 1967 with six member countries: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand and was subsequently joined by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. The first six members are commonly referred to as the ASEAN 6 while the latter four entrants are common known as the CLMV countries.

The main aims of ASEAN are to:
i. accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and;
ii. to promote regional peace and stability.

The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) came into force on 1 January 1993. The ASEAN member countries also signed an agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme on 28 January 1992 to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers in the region. This agreement was subsequently updated on 31 January 2003.

On 17 May 2010, ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) entered into force, upon the notification of the ratification of all ASEAN Member States. The ATIGA is an enhancement of the CEPT-AFTA into a more comprehensive legal instrument. With this, certain ASEAN agreements relating to trade in goods, such as the CEPT Agreement and selected Protocols would be superseded by ATIGA.

With the coming into force of ATIGA, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will issue their legal enactments in 90 days, while Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam will do so in 180 days. Thereafter, tariff liberalisation commitments under the ATIGA will be implemented retroactively from 1 January 2010.

With regards to services, ASEAN signed the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) in 1995. The AFAS aims to eliminate restrictions to trade in services and enhance cooperation in services within ASEAN.

The ASEAN Ministers signed the Framework Agreement on the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA) on 7 October 1998 in Manila. The AIA encourages investors to adopt a regional investment strategy and network of operations.  It will provide greater scope for division of labour and industrial activities across the region, creating opportunities for greater industrial efficiency and cost competitiveness.