Kuala Lumpur (TDI): In the opening ceremony of ASEAN’s 47th Summit and related Summits on Sunday, Asia’s youngest and poorest country Timor Leste has been admitted as the Association’s 11th member.
This development comes after 14 years from the time when the country applied for the membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for the first time in 2011.
The aspiration of becoming a full-time ASEAN member thrived among the country’s leadership long before that. Timor Leste’s President, Jose Ramos-Horta – who also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, first expressed the desire of his country joining ASEAN in 1970s.
In a historic occasion for the region, the Signing of the Declaration on the Admission of Timor-Leste into ASEAN took place at the Opening Ceremony of the 47th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits, held on 26 October 2025. The Declaration was signed by ASEAN Leaders together with… pic.twitter.com/Ym4CeK6bkU
— ASEAN (@ASEAN) October 26, 2025
On Sunday, all ten ASEAN members and the Prime Minister of Timor Leste, Xanana Gusmao signed the document officiating the country’s membership.
“For the people of Timor-Leste, this is not only a dream realized, but a powerful affirmation of our journey – one marked by resilience, determination and hope,” Gusmao said in the ceremony.
“Our accession is a testament to the spirit of our people, a young democracy, born from our struggle,” he further said, adding, “This is not the end of a journey.”
The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, welcomes the new member country saying that it “completes the ASEAN family – reaffirming our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship.”
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In a statement on social app X, ASEAN announced Timor Leste’s membership by listing the key developments and landmark moments that led to it. “This achievement is the result of years of close cooperation between ASEAN and Timor-Leste.”
After formally applying for membership in 2011, all ASEAN members agreed in principle to allow Timor Leste as the eleventh member in 2022. Since then, the country assumed observer status in the organization.
The next year, the Roadmap for Timor-Leste’s Full Membership was adopted by ASEAN. After formally entering various legal instruments and fulfilling multiple requirements, the membership was officially announced.
A small population of 1.4 million population, Timor Leste was a Portuguese colony for 300 years. It became a fully independent country in 2002.
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