Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hailed the membership as the start of an “exciting new chapter” for Asia’s youngest country.
Timor-Leste has become the 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hailing it as a “dream come true”.
The flag of Timor-Leste, also known as Timor-Leste (East Timor), was added to 10 other ASEAN countries on Sunday to thunderous applause at the official ceremony of the annual summit in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.
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An emotional Prime Minister Guzmán said this was a historic moment for his country and a new beginning with “tremendous opportunities” for trade and investment.
“For the people of Timor-Leste, this is not just a dream come true, but a powerful affirmation of our journey, which is characterized by resilience, determination and hope,” Guzman said.
“Our accession is a testament to the spirit of our people, a young democracy born of our struggles,” he said.
“This is not the end of the journey. This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter.”
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, who currently holds the ASEAN chairmanship, said that Timor-Leste’s accession “completes the ASEAN family and reaffirms our shared shared future and deep sense of regional kinship.”
The country’s accession after a 14-year wait is seen as one of the crowning achievements of Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship.
East Timor was ruled for three centuries by Portugal, which abruptly withdrew from the colony in 1975, paving the way for annexation and sometimes bloody occupation by neighboring Indonesia until East Timor won full independence in 2002.
Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta, who also witnessed Sunday’s event, has been campaigning for ASEAN membership for years. The application was first submitted in 2011 during his first term.
Ramos-Horta, 75, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, floated the idea of East Timor joining ASEAN in the 1970s to secure the country’s future through regional integration.
Timor-Leste was granted observer status to the regional body in 2022, but formal accession was delayed due to various challenges.
The country of 1.4 million people is one of Asia’s poorest and hopes to benefit from the integration of an emerging economy of about $2 billion, just a fraction of ASEAN’s overall gross domestic product (GDP) of $3.8 trillion.
Approximately 42 percent of Timor-Leste’s population lives below the national poverty line, and almost two-thirds of the population is under the age of 30.
The government’s main source of income is the oil and gas industry, but it is looking to diversify as resources are rapidly depleted.
ASEAN membership provides Timor-Leste with intra-regional free trade agreements, investment opportunities and access to broader regional markets.
In a September interview with Singapore-based Channel News Asia, Prime Minister Ramos-Horta said his country must maintain stability and avoid burdening ASEAN, adding that Timor-Leste could contribute its experience in conflicts, including disputes over borders and the South China Sea.
Ramos-Horta said, “In the future, if we can contribute to strengthening ASEAN mechanisms such as dispute mechanisms, that will be the key. ASEAN countries place great importance on dialogue.”
ASEAN was launched in 1967 as a bloc of five countries and gradually expanded, adding Cambodia in 1999.
