East Timor joins ASEAN bloc as observer, possibly member by next year

East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta (ramoshorta.com)

East Timor has been allowed to join the ASEAN regional bloc, after Southeast Asian leaders agreed on Friday, according to a statement released by the summit's host country, Cambodia.

The statement read, "We the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations... agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste to be the 11th member of ASEAN."

During the regional leaders' gathering in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, East Timor was granted observer status alongside the right to attend ASEAN meetings and summit sessions. However, to reach full member status, the Southeast Asian nation must meet certain criteria set by the bloc. 

Although it is one of the poorest countries in the world struggling with high levels of inequality, poverty, famine, and unemployment, its President Jose Ramos-Horta long fought to join as an ASEAN member after submitting an application in 2011.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner won a second term in office in April, after serving first from 2007 to 2012. The youngest nation in the region of Southeast Asia, East Timor gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002 after 24 years of occupation.

In 2023, Indonesia is due to replace Cambodia as the ASEAN chair and is hoping East Timor can officially join the ASEAN bloc next year. Nonetheless, Philippine's Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Dan Espiritu said the estimated time for full membership was not yet clear. 

"Not because we would like to delay their entry but we must make sure they are really ready for the obligations and responsibilities," Espiritu told reporters in Phnom Penh.

ASEAN was established in 1967 with five members with Cambodia being the most recent member to join in 1999.