It is now officially part of the regional bloc.
On Sunday, October 26, the signing of the declaration on the admission of Timor-Leste into the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) took place at the Opening Ceremony of the 47th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The said declaration was signed by ASEAN leaders, including Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., together with the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste.
This activity was a show of the ASEAN leaders’ consent to accept Timor-Leste as the 11th member state of the ASEAN, which is in itself a result of years of cooperation between the bloc and the now-youngest country of the international organization.
Timor-Leste, which gained independence in 2002, officially applied for ASEAN membership back in 2011.
It was only in 2022 when ASEAN leaders agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste as a member state by granting it observer status in ASEAN meetings.
After that, the Roadmap for Timor-Leste’s Full Membership in 2023, which guided its preparations to meet ASEAN’s membership criteria such as the accession to ASEAN legal instruments and participation in meetings across all three ASEAN community pillars, was adopted.
In his message, President Marcos welcomed Timor-Leste to the ASEAN. “Today marks a historic milestone for Southeast Asia as we officially welcome Timor-Leste into the ASEAN family.”
Aside from Timor-Leste and the Philippines, also part of the bloc are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.