Malaysia and Thailand are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional grouping formed in 1967 with the declared aim of fostering greater regional co-operation among member-states. The other members of ASEAN are the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. Brunei's admission as the sixth ASEAN member was more recent. Thus far, ASEAN co-operation has been largely limited to the political and cultural spheres but it is anticipated that there will be more co-operation in the economic sphere in the near future (Mahathir bin Mohamad 1989). The Malaysian Prime Minister has argued that although co-operation in agriculture may be more difficult because of the similarity of climate and other geographical factors, co-operation and complementation in industrialization rather than competition will not only be desirable but may even be necessary for the ASEAN countries in the face of protectionism and other economic developments in the industrialized nations. Given the importance of such regional co-operation, particularly in future industrialization, it will be useful to examine the situation vis-à-vis foreign investments in resource-based industries in the other ASEAN countries as well, so as to be able to place the RBI developments in Malaysia and Thailand within the ASEAN regional context as well as to make comparative evaluations. Since the focus of this study is Malaysia and Thailand, time and other resource limitations only allow a brief examination of the situation in the other ASEAN states.

Among the other ASEAN countries, the Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei are rich in resources. Indonesia and Brunei are particularly well endowed with petroleum resources whereas agricultural and related activities are important in the Philippines and in Indonesia. As in the case of Thailand and Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines too began shifting the emphasis of their industrial strategies from the 1970s, from import substitution to promoting industrial exports. Brunei has remained primarily a petroleum exporter and has no substantial industrial development. On the other hand, industrial development is an important facet of the Indonesian and Filipino economies and resource-based industries are important in both these nations.