This is the moment East Timor was officially declared ASEAN’s 11th member, what Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao called a ‘historic moment’. East Timor, which gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, is Asia’s youngest nation.
Published On 26 Oct 202526 Oct 2025
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Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hails membership as beginning of an ‘inspiring new chapter’ for Asia’s youngest nation.
East Timor has joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the bloc’s 11th member state in a move Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hailed as a “dream realised”.
The flag of East Timor, which is also known as Timor-Leste, was added to ASEAN’s other 10 on Sunday at a formal ceremony at the bloc’s annual summit at the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, drawing loud applause.
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An emotional Gusmao said it was a historic moment for his country, with a new beginning that would bring “immense opportunities” for trade and investment.
“For the people of Timor-Leste, this is not only a dream realised, but a powerful affirmation of our journey – one marked by resilience, determination and hope,” Gusmao said.
“Our accession is a testament to the spirit of our people, a young democracy, born from our struggle,” he said.
“This is not the end of a journey. This is the beginning of an inspiring new chapter.”
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country currently chairs ASEAN, said that East Timor’s accession “completes the ASEAN family – reaffirming our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship”.
The country’s admission follows a 14-year wait, and is seen as one of the crowning achievements of Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship.
East Timor was ruled for three centuries by Portugal, which abruptly pulled out of its colony in 1975, paving the way for annexation and an at-times bloody occupation by neighbouring Indonesia before East Timor won full independence in 2002.
East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta, who also witnessed the event on Sunday, has long campaigned for ASEAN membership. An application was first submitted in 2011, during his first term.
Ramos-Horta, 75, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, had raised the idea of East Timor joining ASEAN way back in the 1970s, to secure his country’s future through regional integration.
East Timor was granted observer status to the regional body in 2022, but its full membership was delayed by various challenges.
The country of 1.4 million people is among Asia’s poorest and hopes to see gains from integrating its fledgling economy, which at about $2bn represents only a tiny fraction of ASEAN’s collective $3.8 trillion gross domestic product (GDP).
Some 42 percent of East Timor’s population lives below the national poverty line, while nearly two-thirds of its citizens are under 30 years old.
Its major source of government revenue comes from the oil and gas industry, but with resources quickly becoming depleted, it is looking to diversify.
ASEAN membership gives East Timor access to the bloc’s free trade deals, investment opportunities and a broader regional market.
In an interview with Singapore-based Channel News Asia in September, Ramos-Horta said that his country must maintain stability and not burden ASEAN, adding that East Timor could contribute its experience on conflict, including for disputes over borders and the South China Sea.
“If we can in the future contribute towards strengthening ASEAN mechanisms such as conflict mechanisms, that is key. In each country in ASEAN, we put emphasis on dialogue,” Ramos-Horta said.
ASEAN began as a five-member bloc in 1967 and has gradually expanded, with Cambodia previously the most recent addition in 1999.
Southeast Asian leaders are set to hold their first ever summit with China and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as they seek to insulate their trade-dependent economies from the effect of steep tariffs from the United States.
The meeting, in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, is taking place on Tuesday, on the second day of the annual summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
It follows separate talks between leaders of the ASEAN and the GCC, which comprises of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, opening the ASEAN-GCC summit, said stronger ties between the two blocs would be key to enhancing interregional collaboration, building resilience and securing sustainable prosperity.
“I believe the ASEAN-GCC partnership has never been more important than it is today, as we navigate an increasingly complex global landscape marked by economic uncertainty and geopolitical challenges,” Anwar said.
Malaysia is the current chair of ASEAN, which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
In written remarks before the meetings, Anwar said “a transition in the geopolitical order is underway” and that “the global trading system is under further strain, with the recent imposition of US unilateral tariffs.”
With protectionism surging, the world is also bearing witness to “multilateralism breaking apart at the seams”, he added.
China’s Premier Li Qiang, who arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, will join ASEAN and the GCC in their first such meeting on Tuesday. He met with Anwar on Monday and called for expanded trade and investment ties between Beijing, ASEAN and the GCC.
“At a time when unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise and world economic growth is sluggish,” Li said, China, ASEAN and GCC countries “should strengthen coordination and cooperation and jointly uphold open regionalism and true multilateralism”.
China is willing to work with Malaysia to “promote closer economic cooperation among the three parties” and respond to global challenges, Li told Anwar.
ASEAN has maintained a policy of neutrality, engaging both Beijing and Washington, but US President Donald Trump’s threats of sweeping tariffs came as a blow.
Six of the bloc’s members were among the worst hit, with tariffs between 32 percent and 49 percent.
Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs in April for most of the world, and this month struck a similar deal with key rival China, easing trade war tensions.
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Kuala Lumpur, said ASEAN members are “very much looking at building ties with other parts of the world, in particular China, but also the Middle East” to strengthen their economic resilience.
“A measure of the importance that the GCC is also placing on this meeting is the delegation that has been sent here and the seniority of its members,” he added. “The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is here, and we have crown princes from Kuwait and also Bahrain. We also have a deputy prime minister from Oman.”
Anwar said Monday he had also written to Trump to request an ASEAN-US summit this year, showing “we observe seriously the spirit of centrality.” However, his Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Washington had not yet responded.
ASEAN has traditionally served as “a middleman of sorts” between developed economies like the US and China, said Chong Ja Ian from the National University of Singapore (NUS).
“Given the uncertainty and unpredictability associated with economic relations with the United States, ASEAN member states are looking to diversify,” he told the AFP news agency.
“Facilitating exchanges between the Gulf and People’s Republic of China is one aspect of this diversification.”
Malaysia, which opened the bloc’s 46th summit on Monday, is the main force behind the initiative, he said.
China, which has suffered the brunt of Trump’s tariffs, is also looking to shore up its other markets.
Premier Li’s participation is “both timely and calculated”, Khoo Ying Hooi from the University of Malaya told AFP.
“China sees an opportunity here to reinforce its image as a reliable economic partner, especially in the face of Western decoupling efforts.”
Beijing and Washington engaged in an escalating flurry of tit-for-tat levies until a meeting in Switzerland saw an agreement to slash them for 90 days.
Chinese goods still face higher tariffs than most, though.