At the Fifth Summit in Bangkok in 1995, the Leaders mandated the Association of South East Asia Nation (ASEAN) to "raise awareness of ASEAN among its people, in particular the younger generation, and to instill in them a consciousness of the spirit and identity embodied in ASEAN, by harnessing all appropriate modes and technologies in the media and communications, education and through greater interaction among its peoples."

The ASEAN Leaders restated this in ASEAN Vision 2020; "We envision the entire Southeast Asia to be, by 2020, an ASEAN community conscious of its history, aware of its cultural heritage and bound by a common regional identity."

On 15 December 1997 in Kuala Lumpur, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers signed the Memorandum of Understanding that established the ASEAN Foundation to boost the Association's effort to promote Functional Cooperation in the region.