ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)

The ASEAN Regional Forum is a 27-member security-dialogue body established in 1994 to discuss political and security issues across the Asia-Pacific, including maritime security and confidence-building. Chaired by ASEAN, it groups the ten ASEAN states with partners such as the United States, China, Japan, the EU, Russia, India, and Australia. The ARF works through preventive diplomacy and inter-sessional meetings on maritime security; it produces non-binding statements rather than enforcement, so its value to shipping is risk-reduction and early-warning, not operational protection in disputed waters.