What is OPEC ?

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The five Founding Members were later joined by nine other Members: Qatar (1961); Indonesia (1962) – suspended its membership from January 2009; Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1962); United Arab Emirates (1967); Algeria (1969); Nigeria (1971); Ecuador (1973) – suspended its membership from December 1992-October 2007; Angola (2007) and Gabon (1975–1994). OPEC had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in the first five years of its existence. This was moved to Vienna, Austria, on September 1, 1965.

OPEC's objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry.

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The 1960s

These were OPEC’s formative years, with the Organization, which had started life as a group of five oil-producing, developing countries, seeking to assert its Member Countries’ legitimate rights in an international oil market dominated by the ‘Seven Sisters’ multinational companies. Activities were generally of a low-profile nature, as OPEC set out its objectives, established its Secretariat, which moved from Geneva to Vienna in 1965, adopted resolutions and engaged in negotiations with the companies. Membership grew to ten during the decade.
The 1970s

OPEC rose to international prominence during this decade, as its Member Countries took control of their domestic petroleum industries and acquired a major say in the pricing of crude oil on world markets. There were two oil pricing crises, triggered by the Arab oil embargo in 1973 and the outbreak of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, but fed by fundamental imbalances in the market; both resulted in oil prices rising steeply. The first Summit of OPEC Sovereigns and Heads of State was held in Algiers in March 1975. OPEC acquired its 11th Member, Nigeria, in 1971.
The 1980s

Prices peaked at the beginning of the decade, before beginning a dramatic decline, which culminated in a collapse in 1986 — the third oil pricing crisis. Prices rallied in the final years of the decade, without approaching the high levels of the early-1980s, as awareness grew of the need for joint action among oil producers if market stability with reasonable prices was to be achieved in the future. Environmental issues began to appear on the international agenda.
The 1990s

A fourth pricing crisis was averted at the beginning of the decade, on the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East, when a sudden steep rise in prices on panic-stricken markets was moderated by output increases from OPEC Members. Prices then remained relatively stable until 1998, when there was a collapse, in the wake of the economic downturn in South-East Asia. Collective action by OPEC and some leading non-OPEC producers brought about a recovery. As the decade ended, there was a spate of mega-mergers among the major international oil companies in an industry that was experiencing major technological advances. For most of the 1990s, the ongoing international climate change negotiations threatened heavy decreases in future oil demand.

What is WTO ?

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization designed to supervise and liberalize international trade. The WTO came into being on 1 January 1995, and is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was created in 1947, and continued to operate for almost five decades as a de facto international organization.

WTO is The World Trade Organization deals with the rules of trade between nations at a near-global level; it is responsible for negotiating and implementing new trade agreements, and is in charge of policing member countries' adherence to all the WTO agreements, signed by the majority of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round. The organization is currently working with its members on a new trade negotiation called the Doha Development Agenda (Doha round), launched in 2001.

The WTO has 153 members, which represents more than 95% of total world trade. The WTO is governed by a Ministerial Conference, which meets every two years; a General Council, which implements the conference's policy decisions and is responsible for day-to-day administration; and a director-general, who is appointed by the Ministerial Conference. The WTO's headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland.

What is AFTA ?

The Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA) was established in 1992. AFTA is a collective effort by ASEAN member countries to reduce/eliminate tariffs on intra-ASEAN trade. The purpose was to develop greater trade and industrial linkages among ASEAN member countries. With a combined population of 513 million people, the establishment of the Free Trade Area among ASEAN, offers vast potential for greater economic collaboration.

AFTA has been realised through the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme. Under the CEPT:

• import duties among member countries will be reduced to between 0-5% by the full implementation of AFTA in 2010
  
• elimination of quantitative restrictions (import permit, quota) & other non-tariff barriers (NTBs) among ASEAN Member countries
  
• progressive transfer of products into the CEPT Scheme based on each ASEAN member's capacity and capability.
  

What is ASEAN ?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a multilateral organization which was created to give Southeast Asian states a forum to communicate with each other. Since the region had a long colonial past and a history of endemic warfare, there has never been much peaceful and constructive interaction between kings, presidents and other officials. In the 1950s, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were fighting for independence from the French and, later, the USA. This put those countries at enmity with western-leaning countries such as Thailand, Philippines and Singapore. Malaysia and Indonesia, meanwhile, had their own ‘konfrontasi’ and prickly relations (at best) existed, while Singapore and Malaysia have a lengthy history of diplomatic squabbles. A neutral forum was, therefore, a very useful development for all of those countries.

ASEAN was formed as a result of the Bangkok Declaration of 1967 and initially had five members: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore. Brunei subsequently joined in 1984 after it had won independence from Britain. Vietnam became the seventh member of the group, officially joining in 1995. After several years of negotiation, Burma (Myanmar) and Laos joined in 1997 and the final member of the ten, Cambodia, became a member in 1999. The only independent state in Southeast Asia which is not a member of ASEAN is now East Timor, which is still at too vulnerable and fragile a state to be able to participate for the foreseeable future.

ASEAN was established on the basis of non-intervention: that is, interaction within the group would focus entirely on economic matters, or else on matters of technical co-operation and integration, for example creating an ‘open skies agreement,’ measures to tackle the spread of avian influenza (‘bird flu’) or else transboundary environmental issues. By tradition and constitution, no member state would comment openly on political conditions within another member state and there would be no attempt at intervention or interference beyond borders. This was an essential condition since, otherwise, most states would have refused to join ASEAN. Of course, it is clear that a lot of discussion and politicking goes on behind the scenes but the main value of ASEAN is, in addition to the functional agreements and co-operation achieved, to provide the scenes behind which confidential discussions should take place. Given the enormous problems with mistrust and lack of capacity in Southeast Asia, it is not sensible to criticize ASEAN for not achieving more but to be grateful that it has been able to achieve what it has done. The limitations of the approach are evident in respect of the current political situation in Burma but the benefits of it are harder to discern, although they are certainly there.