ASEAN is the only organization of its kind in the vast region that stretches from the Indian Subcontinent to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Geographically, it covers Southeast Asia, where there are more seas and islands than continuous land mass. In the past four decades, economic development and trade have flourished impressively amongst the ten ASEAN member states, culminating in a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of nearly US$2 trillion in 2011. Going forward, future economic growth and prosperity will depend on greater and improved connectivity not only within ASEAN, but between ASEAN and its trading partners as well. A well-connected ASEAN with good connections to the wider region will create a much larger and integrated market with more production and distribution networks. This will help to realize the full potential of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), as well as the various ASEAN Plus One Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), and the envisioned Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

However, the imperative for enhancing connectivity in ASEAN is not merely economic. More importantly, ASEAN is building a community from among the diverse nations of Southeast Asia. To do so, they must have mutual trust and understanding, and in turn develop greater cohesion and solidarity. If ASEAN remains separated by the mountains and seas, and if its people cannot interact easily with each other, the feeling of togetherness and the sharing of a common future cannot be forged and developed. More time and attention must therefore be given to one another, and it is through greater connectivity that this can be achieved.

History is full of remarkable success stories about how diverse nations were connected to develop trade and other relations across vast distances. For example, the Roman Empire had more than 400,000 kilometres of roads, covering more than one hundred provinces around the whole of the Mediterranean Sea.