ASEAN Agrees In Principle To Admit Timor-Leste As 11th Member

By Linda Khoo Hui Li BANGKOK, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste as the group's 11th member. The ASEAN leaders, currently gathered at the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in a statement said Timor-Leste will also be granted observer status to participate in all ASEAN Meetings including at the Summit plenaries. “Considering the outcomes of the Fact-Finding Missions conducted by ASEAN Political Security, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, the leaders agreed in-principle to admit Timor-Leste to be the 11th member of ASEAN. “The leaders agreed to formalise an objective criteria-based Roadmap for Timor-Leste's full membership including based on the milestones identified in the reports of the Fact-Finding Missions and report to the 42nd ASEAN Summit for adoption,” it said. The statement said all ASEAN member states and external partners shall fully support Timor-Leste to achieve the milestones through the provision of capacity building assistance and any other necessary and relevant support for its full membership in ASEAN. ASEAN was formed by five member states – Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines – in 1967. Brunei joined in 1984, followed by Vietnam in 1985, and Myanmar and Laos in 1997. Cambodia, which is this year's ASEAN summit chair, was the last country to join ASEAN, in 1999. Timor-Leste’s President Jose Ramos-Horta has long campaigned for ASEAN membership, and has formally applied to join ASEAN in 2011. The country, with a population of 1.35 million people, gained its independence on May 20, 2002. -- BERNAMA