‘Welcome to the Asean Family’: Timor-Leste takes final step toward full membership with document handover
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Timor-Leste today took a major step toward joining Asean as its 11th member after officially handing over its membership documents at a ceremony here this morning.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the event, known as the Ceremony of Depositing of the Instrument of Accession, effectively marks Timor-Leste’s full admission as the eleventh member of Asean.
“Welcome to the Asean Family, and to our venerated Charter,” he added.
Mohamad said Timor-Leste will bring new energy, fresh perspectives, and a youthful population ready to contribute to the region once officially accepted.
“Your presence will enrich Asean’s collective identity. Not only in demography, but politically, culturally, and economically,” he said.
During the ceremony, Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas officially deposited his country’s Instruments of Accession to the Asean Charter and the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, handing them over to Asean Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn.
Timor-Leste’s full membership is expected to be confirmed tomorrow, in conjunction with the 47th Asean Summit, during the signing of the Declaration on the Admission of Timor-Leste into Asean, where regional leaders will formally endorse the accession documents.
Its official membership announcement is slated for Monday morning.
Timor-Leste first formally applied for Asean membership in March 2011, nearly a decade after gaining independence in 2002.
It was later granted observer status in 2022, allowing it to take part in several Asean meetings and activities.
That same year, during the 40th and 41st Asean Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the bloc agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste as its 11th member.
The following year, at the 2023 summit in Indonesia, Asean leaders adopted a roadmap outlining the steps toward the country’s full membership in the regional grouping.
[Source: Malay Mail]
