Timor-Leste Approved ‘In-Principle’ as the 11th Member of ASEAN

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ASEAN leaders at the Summit in Cambodia this week.

The decision was taken on Friday during the 2022 ASEAN Summit which is being held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia until November 13. 

The South Asian Nation which gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 will be admitted ‘in-principle’ and granted observer status at ASEAN meetings, including at summit plenaries.

A statement released by the summit host Cambodia said, “We the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations… agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste to be the 11th member of ASEAN.”

It also added that the youngest country in Southeast Asia will see a “objective criteria-based roadmap” to ensure its full membership.

Timor-Leste had applied to be an ASEAN member in 2011 and Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong said that this issue was under discussion “for some time”. He said, “Singapore welcomes, in principle, Timor-Leste’s eventual membership of ASEAN.”

Also a former Portuguese colony, the country of 1.37 million is one of the poorest in the world and is battling serious concerns like inequality, malnourishment and unemployment.

The last country to join the ASEAN bloc was this year’s host Cambodia in 1999. Indonesia is hosting the ASEAN summit in 2023 and hopes the Timor can officially be a member of ASEAN by then.