DILI (TOP) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to recognize Timor-Leste as a member of ASEAN. Timor-Leste will become the 11th member of ASEAN, ASEAN said in a statement on Friday 11 November 2022, as reported by Reuters.
The statement was issued when the leaders of ASEAN member countries met at the Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Timor-Leste will also be granted observer status at the ASEAN summit.
"We agree in principle to recognize Timor-Leste as the 11th member of ASEAN," the statement read. The statement added that next steps would include a roadmap for full membership to be put forward at next year's summit.
Regarding this decision, Timor-Leste welcomes the ASEAN leaders statement on the application of Timor-Leste for ASEAN Membership to admit Timor-Leste as the 11th Member of ASEAN and look forward to working with the incoming Chairmanship, the Republic of Indonesia.
“We are delighted to collaborate and work with ASEAN Coordinating Council and the ASEAN Secretariat towards preparation of the Roadmap and for Timor-Leste’s full membership including the milestones identified in the reports of the Fact-Finding Missions,” said the Timor-Leste government in a press release.
“We request the ASEAN Member States to grant full membership to Timor-Leste in 2023 following eleven years of preparation and the adoption of the Roadmap and report to the 42nd ASEAN Summit.”
“We acknowledge and thank the continuous assistance and full support from ASEAN Member States, especially to the Kingdom of Cambodia for the unwavering support and our appreciation to external partners for providing capacity building assistance.”
Timor-Leste became independent from Indonesia in a UN-supervised referendum in 1999. In 2002, Timor-Leste was officially recognized by the United Nations, making it Asia's youngest democracy. Now, the country with a population of 1.3 million people is immediately starting the process of accession to ASEAN. Timor Leste itself only officially applied for ASEAN membership in 2011.
Nikkei Asia reported that, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have opened their annual summit as the 10-nation bloc faces a multitude of issues, including the stalemate in military-ruled member Myanmar and the heightened rivalry between the U.S. and China.
The three days of talks will also include the East Asia Summit, which U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are due to attend.
