The word existing in paragraph 3 could best be replaced by ________.

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer.

THE ASEAN UNIVERSITY NETWORK

It is clear that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, established in 1967, has achieved remarkable progress in strengthening the ties and promoting cooperation among countries in Southeast Asia, especially in terms of cultural, economic, and social collaborations. However, it was not until the Fourth ASEAN Summit in 1992 that cooperation in the fields of higher education and human resource development became the point of attention of the ASEAN leaders. The idea was later developed into the ASEAN University Network (AUN). The network was founded in November 1995 with the original number of 13 universities in ASEAN member countries. After the enlargement of ASEAN by the ASEAN Charter in 1997 and 1999, the AUN membership increased to 20 member universities, with the addition of two universities from Myanmar, three from Laos, Malaysia, and Cambodia, and two from Indonesia. The main objective of the AUN is to strengthen the existing network of cooperation among universities in ASEAN by promoting collaborative studies and research programmes. Furthermore, the AUN attempts to promote cooperation and solidarity among scientists and scholars in the region and to develop academic and professional human resources as well as to spread scientific knowledge and information among the universities in the region.