Timor-Leste will become a full member of Asean in October
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that under the presidency of Jose Ramos-Horta, Timor-Leste will be accepted into Asean. PHOTO: ANWAR IBRAHIM/FACEBOOK
KUALA LUMPUR – Timor-Leste will become Asean's 11th member state, with full membership to be granted at the next regional meeting in Kuala Lumpur later in 2025.
Announcing this at a press conference on May 27, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country is this year's Asean chair, said that Timor-Leste will become a full member of the regional grouping at the upcoming Asean meeting scheduled for October 2025 .
'The decision is they will be accepted as full member in the next October session,' said Datuk Seri Anwar, adding that this was still subject to Timor-Leste fulfilling 'one or two' more conditions under the economic pillar.
Timor-Leste was officially recognised by the United Nations in 2002, making it Asia's youngest democracy. The resource-rich country of 1.4 million people immediately started the process of accession to Asean, but formally applied for membership only in 2011.
During the Asean Summit in Cambodia in 2022, Timor-Leste was admitted in principle as the 11th member of Asean and granted observer status.
Timor-Leste occupies the eastern part of the island of Timor, at the far eastern tip of the Indonesian archipelago. The island's western region belongs to Indonesia.
Before it became independent from Indonesia on May 20, 2002, Timor-Leste was one of its provinces, known as East Timor.
At present, the 10 member states of Asean are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines.
A day before the official announcement (May 26), Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta expressed appreciation that the country's application had been accepted.
' (In) 2011, when as president, I signed the formal letter of intention to join Asean , n ot too many in Timor-Leste understood and agreed. Not too many in Asean agreed,' wrote the 75-year-old former independence fighter and Nobel Peace Prize laureate wrote on Facebook on May 26.
'My deep appreciation to all leaders and officials of Asean past and present ,' he said, also congratulating Timorese leaders 'past and present' for their efforts, as well as those who have worked under the leadership of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao over the past two years.
'And now, we must work even harder,' he added.
Dili's path to full membership had been delayed due to concerns among existing member states over whether the young nation had the capacity to meet Asean's rigorous commitments—such as hosting high-level meetings and fulfilling bureaucratic responsibilities.
To demonstrate its readiness , by 2016 Timor-Leste had established embassies in all Asean member capitals.
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