East Timor joined the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc as its 11th member on Sunday after 14 years of campaigning.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country currently chairs ASEAN, said East Timor’s accession “completes the ASEAN family – affirming our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship”.
“Within this community, Timor-Leste’s development and its strategic autonomy will find firm and lasting support,” Anwar told an ASEAN summit in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
East Timor, also known by its Portuguese name Timor-Leste, is the youngest country in the region, having gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 after 24 years of occupation.
President Jose Ramos-Horta has long championed ASEAN membership, and an application was first submitted in 2011 during his first term.
The signing of a declaration on East Timor’s admission on Sunday is also seen as one of the crowning achievements of Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship.
East Timor was granted observer status to the regional body in 2022, but its full membership was delayed by various challenges.
The country continues to struggle with high levels of inequality, malnutrition and unemployment.
It remains heavily dependent on oil, with little diversification into other sectors, and there are still some concerns about its ability to participate meaningfully in ASEAN’s development agenda.
It also faces challenges in infrastructure development and human resource capacity that are considered critical for effective participation in the ASEAN economic community.
In September, thousands of student-led protesters demonstrated against a multimillion-dollar plan to buy Toyota Prado SUVs for each of the country’s 65 members of parliament and lifetime pensions for former MPs.
Protesters and police clashed for two days before parliament canceled the purchase of the vehicles.
Parliament has also bowed to public pressure over MPs’ pensions.
ASEAN began as a five-member bloc in 1967 and has gradually expanded, with Cambodia the latest addition in 1999.
