Various ministries and organizations in Laos held a capacity-building workshop for Timor-Leste, ahead of its accession to ASEAN, which took place from 26-30 June.
The workshop welcomed the participation of dignitaries like Mr. Thongphan Savanphet, Vice Foreign Minister and the head of Laos’ ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting, and the Ambassador of Timor-Leste, Mrs. Renata de Jesus.
Representatives from the Department of ASEAN at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, and the Australian Embassy in Laos also attended the event.
Additionally, representatives from the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism, the Lao People’s Revolutionary Youth Union, and the Lao Women’s Union in Laos, were also present at the event.
According to Pasaxon, the objective of the workshop, organized by Lao representatives with the support of Australia, was to learn from the successful ASEAN applications of Laos and Vietnam.
The project also aimed to provide valuable insights into cooperation and coordination efforts within ASEAN. It specifically focused on the three pillars of the ASEAN Community: the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). It shed light on how these pillars work together at the regional level and within each member country.
This workshop is a direct implementation of the agreement reached between the bloc’s leaders at the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summit in 2022, which outlined the acceptance of Timor-Leste as the 11th member country in principle, granting it observer status.
In addition, the agreement called upon all of the bloc’s members and negotiating partners to extend their assistance in preparing for Timor-Leste’s future ASEAN membership.
