ASEAN TIMELINE - Timeline

August 1967 - ASEAN was established in Bangkok at the height of the Vietnam War by the five original member countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand

February 1976 - First ASEAN Summit convenes in Bali, Indonesia

September 1978 - First ASEAN-European Economic Community ministerial meeting held in Brussels

January 1984 - Brunei joins ASEAN

July 1995 - Vietnam joins ASEAN

July 1997 - Laos and Myanmar join ASEAN

December 1997 - First meeting of ASEAN Plus Three, comprising leaders of the 10 ASEAN members and their counterparts from East Asia -- China, Japan and South Korea December 1997 - First ASEAN-China Summit convenes in Malaysia

April 1999 - Cambodia joins ASEAN

December 2005 - First meeting of the ASEAN Plus Six, also called the East Asia Summit, comprising the ASEAN countries plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

November 20, 2007 - ASEAN signs charter giving its 10 member states a legal identity, a first step towards its aim of a free trade area by 2015 .