International Organizations - Associations

Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN )
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic organization of countries located in Southeast Asia. ASEAN was formed on August 8, 1967 by the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, as a display of solidarity against Communist expansion in Vietnam and insurgency within their own borders. Following the Bali Summit of 1976, the organization embarked on a programme of economic cooperation, which floundered in the mid-1980's only to be revived around a 1991 Thai proposal for a regional "free trade area". The countries meet annually.

Members: Brunei,Cambodia,Indonesia,Laos,Malaysia,Myanmar,Philippines,Singapore ,Thailand ,Vietnam.


World Trade Organization (WTO)
The World Trade Organization is an international, multilateral organization, which sets the rules for the global trading system and resolves disputes between its member states; all of whom are signatories to its approximately 30 agreements. WTO headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland. Pascal Lamy is the current Director-General taking over from the previous Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi on September 1, 2005. As of November 7, 2006, there are 149 members in the organization with Vietnam being the latest to join.

Headquarters : Geneva, Switzerland
Total Member COuntries : 149
Secretary-General : Pascal Lamy
Formation : 1995


European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational and intergovernmental union of 25 (27 as of 1st January 2007) independent, democratic member states. The European Union is the world's largest confederation of independent states, established under that name in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty).

Member states : Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom, Greece, Greenland, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia,Bulgaria, Romania.


The Commonwealth of Nations (CN)
usually known as the Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, the majority of which are former colonies of the United Kingdom.
It was once known as the British Commonwealth of Nations or British Commonwealth, and some still call it by that name, either for historical reasons or to distinguish it from the other commonwealths around the world


Head of the Commonwealth : Queen Elizabeth II
Secretary-General : Don McKinnon (since 1999)
Headquarters : London, England
Number of Member States : 53


Confederation of Indian Industry
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry led and industry managed organisation, playing a proactive role in India’s development process. The organisation works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India, partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes. The confederation is headquartered in New Delhi.

CII was established in 1895. It is India’s premier business association, with a direct membership of over 5800 organisations from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs and indirect membership of over 95,000 companies from around 325 national and regional sectoral associations.



Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (pronounced as eye-triple-e) is an international non-profit, professional organization for the advancement of technology related to electricity. It has the most members of any technical professional organization in the world, with more than 360,000 members in around 175 countries.



International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by observing exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering financial and technical assistance when requested. Its headquarters are located in Washington, D.C.



Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation of those developed countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy. It originated in 1948 as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), led by Frenchman Robert Marjolin, to help administer the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. Later its membership was extended to non-European states, and in 1961 it was reformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.



South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the largest regional organization in the world, covering approximately 1.47 billion people. SAARC is an economic and political organization of eight countires in Southern Asia. The organization was established on December 8, 1985 by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan. Afghanistan was accepted as the eighth member of SAARC on November 13, 2005.


World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is a group of five international organizations responsible for providing finance and advice to countries for the purposes of economic development and eliminating poverty. The Bank came into formal existence on 27 December 1945 following international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements, where the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference that led to their establishment took place (1 July-22 July 1944). Commencing operations on 25 June 1946, it approved its first loan on 9 May 1947 ($250m to France for postwar reconstruction, in real terms the largest loan issued by the Bank to date).
Its five agencies are:

* International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
* International Finance Corporation (IFC)
* International Development Association (IDA)
* Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
* International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)


World Health Organization (WHO)
World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, acting as a coordinating authority on international public health, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Historically, WHO inherited much of the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health Organization (HO), which had been an agency of the League of Nations. The WHO was established by the UN on 7 April 1948. The Director-General Elect is Dr. Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun. She takes up her official duties on 4 January 2007. Dr Anders Nordström, of Sweden, continues as Acting Director-General until then.

Headquarters : Geneva, Switzerland
Membership : 193 member states
Formation : 7 April 1948