ASEAN will have a future because its 10 member-countries have 'no other choice' except to band together to compete against China and India, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

'The economic facts of life will force us to pull together or hang separately,' he told business leaders at the Forbes Global CEO Conference on Wednesday.

'If we don't get together, what's the future against the draw of China and India?'

However, Asean can combine its markets of 550 million people, he said.

Even so, this still accords the grouping 'less purchasing power in total against China and just about equal to India', he said.

But the realisation that it has to compete with both regional giants will bring Asean countries together, he said in response to a question about Asean and its future, and the level of its integration.

So Asean has a 'future' if only because its 10 countries have little choice but to team up, he said.

He reminded his audience that the regional grouping had marked its 40th anniversary in August last year, and noted that 'nobody gave it a chance when it started'.

Mr Lee was on a panel discussing current events, alongside former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo and Mr David Malpass, a former US Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary for Developing Nations.

They rotate with British historian and author Paul Johnson in writing the 'Current Events' column for Forbes magazine.