East Timor officially gains full ASEAN membership

East Timor has officially joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after 14 years of pursuit, becoming the regional bloc’s first new member in 26 years and raising total membership to 11.

The formal accession took place on Sunday (October 26) during the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where leaders of member states signed the official documents.

East Timor applied for ASEAN membership in 2011, gained observer status in 2022, and now joins as a full member.

ASEAN, established on August 8, 1967, currently includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The summit, chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, runs for three days under the theme “Inclusion and Sustainability” and is attended by strategic partners, including leaders from the US, China, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil.

East Timor, with a population of around 1.3 million, gained independence in 2002 and becomes the first new ASEAN member since Cambodia.