As Vietnam deepens linkages with other ASEAN countries, more younger professionals are venturing into the region in search of work, professional development and meaningful life experiences beyond the homeland. Thanh Nien News’ Diep Uyen looks into how ASEAN integration has made more Vietnamese regional, and global, citizens.

In this commentary for Reporting ASEAN, Kavi Chongkittavorn makes a case for why the acronym ‘CLMV’, which sets Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam apart, is increasingly out of place some two decades after they became full members of ASEAN.

Increasingly, Filipino businesses eyeing expansion are looking in their ASEAN neighborhood for opportunities – especially Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, writing for the Reporting ASEAN programme, tells us more in the third/last of this three-part series.

Philippine businesses appear to have high comfort level with working with Vietnamese partners, and are also venturing into areas like Myanmar. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla of the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports in the second of a three-part series with the Reporting ASEAN programme.

Filipino CEOs are keen on using the opportunities opened up by ASEAN economic. integration, but choosing to team up with foreign investors in partnerships geared toward the regional market, reports Doris Dumlao-Abadilla of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in the first of a three-part series in partnership with the Reporting ASEAN programme.

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has been an ASEAN member country for two decades, but many Lao people don’t feel very connected it. However, they generally believe that being part of the ASEAN family as it deepens linkages within can only benefit the country, Vannaphone Sitthirath explains in this Reporting ASEAN feature.

The growth of ASEAN’s footprint in its constituency’s lives widens the space – and responsibility – by the region’s media to report on the challenges and opportunities of regional integration. While media can invest more in this story, ASEAN’s largely opaque approach to them doesn’t exactly speak of a maturing organisation. This shows few signs of changing radically any time soon, reflecting the less than open attitude toward media freedom by several of its member states, Johanna Son explains in this commentary.

On its 50^th year, has #ASEAN matured or is it in mid-life crisis? What are the milestones as it ends its first year as a community? How do citizens see ASEAN? What face of ASEAN do the media convey in their reporting? These are just some of the questions that will be discussed at the @ReportingASEAN media forum 2016, to be held on Dec. 2-4, 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand.

ASEAN and its members’ silence on the Philippines’ controversial anti-drug campaign is just one example of how the organization pushes economic openness over political and human rights concerns, writes Tess Bacalla in this feature for Reporting ASEAN.

Big things are happening in the #ASEAN neighbourhood! The Reporting ASEAN fellowship program is inviting mid-career journalists from ASEAN countries to submit fresh, in-depth, and ideas for stories investigating issues around ASEAN regionalism.

Pitch us a story idea we can’t resist, and we’ll support it. Deadline for applications: 31 October 2016.  For application details, read more.

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union will not discourage the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from pushing ahead with its own economic integration project, the bloc’s former chief said on Friday. In an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, former ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the association can learn from the EU’s experience.

ASEAN Lanes – special lanes at airports in Southeast Asia for travellers from the organisation’s 10 member countries – remain more a concept than a reality in the region. To date, Malaysia is the only country to properly implement the service. Kavi Chongkittavorn looks at why the other countries have yet to do so in this Reporting ASEAN analysis.

ASEAN integration comes in many forms – in this case, it’s with puppets. Puppet artists and musicians from around the region met with their counterparts in Myanmar to learn from each other and exchange ideas. Kyaw Hsu Mon of ‘The Irrawaddy’ looks at the outcome of the workshop in this ‘Reporting ASEAN: 2015 and Beyond’ story.

It’s been 10 years since civil society groups in ASEAN started having annual interactions with ASEAN leaders, including face-to-face meetings at summits. But beyond making headlines, how effective have these been in influencing ASEAN’s work or its members’ policies? Mia Gomez and Johanna Son attend a meeting ahead of the 2016 ASEAN People’s Forum to find out in this story for the ‘Reporting ASEAN: 2015 and Beyond’ series.

Government officials and farmers’ groups from seven ASEAN countries went on a rare study tour together in Thailand to learn more about cooperatives in the country and also to get to know one another better. Mia Gomez looks at the effort to increase dialogue between farmers and ASEAN sectoral bodies in this story for the ‘Reporting ASEAN: 2015 and Beyond’ series.

Southeast Asia’s waters are boiling with politics, tussles involving fishing boats, South China Sea disputes and dam issues in the Mekong‬ – on top of the steaming-hot weather these days. Thitinan Pongsudhirak analyses China’s conduct in the region in this commentary in the ‘Bangkok Post’.

With the freer movement of labour, capital, investment and goods across Southeast Asia, multinational corporations (MNCs) look set to benefit from deeper economic integration under the ASEAN Economic Community. Industry leaders weigh in with their expectations of what the AEC means for their organisations and ideas on how to speed up the integration process in this article from ASEAN UP.

For too long, media communities in ASEAN have missed reporting on ASEAN’s journey to integration. But the ASEAN Community’s formation presents newsrooms with the challenge of crafting fresh routines to report on the story of integration in a region of 625 million people, argues Kavi Chongkittavorn in this commentary.

Strong outside, weaker inside? ASEAN needs to address its internal contradictions before it can achieve true integration and be considered a regional powerhouse. Ahead of the ASEAN Community’s launch, Johanna Son takes a closer look at the ASEAN way in this story for ‘The Irrawaddy’ under the ‘Reporting ASEAN: 2015 and Beyond’ series.

With the establishment of the ASEAN Economy Community, Vietnamese exports stand to gain from the elimination of tariffs. But free trade also means the country will need to ensure its products remain attractive amid fiercer competition. Thi Huong of Vietnam Economic News looks at how the textile and agriculture industries plan to tackle this challenge in her story for the ‘Reporting ASEAN’ media fellowship programme.