In May 2000, delegates from the countries in Southeast Asia attending the
Malaysian Paralympiad in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had a meeting and agreed to establish a disabled sport organisation. The ASEAN Para Games was conceptualised by Zainal Abu Zarin, the founding president of the
Malaysian Paralympic Council. The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event will be held after the Southeast Asian Games and help promoting friendship and solidarity among persons with disabilities in the ASEAN region and rehabilitating and integrating persons with disability into mainstream society. Ten countries,
Brunei,
Myanmar,
Cambodia,
Indonesia,
Laos,
Malaysia,
Philippines,
Singapore,
Thailand and
Vietnam were the founding members. These countries agreed to hold the Games biennially on 28 April 2001 and ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF) was formed on 23 October 2001 with Pisal Wattanawongkiri, president of the
Paralympic Committee of Thailand who proposed the games' name, being elected as its first president. The first ASEAN Para Games was held in Kuala Lumpur from 26 to 29 October 2001 comprising more than 700 athletes and officials from Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participating in 2 sports. At the
2nd ASEAN Para Games in
Vietnam,
East Timor was admitted into the federation as a provisional member. ==Logo==