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Ball in Timor Leste’s court to full ASEAN membership
Timor Leste appears ready to grab the bull by the horns after last week's summit approved a road map toward its full ASEAN membership.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (right) welcomes Timor Leste Prime Minister José Maria Vasconcelos, widely known as Taur Matan Ruak, at the State Palace in Jakarta on his arrival for a state visit on Feb. 13, 2023. (The Jakarta Post/Kompas.com)
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But ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn said on Monday that the process would be expedited once Dili did all the necessary legwork.
The small island nation’s has waited more than a decade to be an official member of ASEAN since its initial application in 2011. Despite its geographic location in Southeast Asia, the country struggled to get a nod from the 10-country bloc until late 2022, when it was admitted, in principle, as its 11th member.
The road map that was agreed last week by all member states at the ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, covers Dili’s obligations demanded by group’s three key political security, economy and sociocultural pillars.
Timor Leste’s economy with a gross domestic product (GDP) of around US$2.45 million in 2022, notably smaller than the other ASEAN member states, had been its biggest stumbling block, though the recent support from ASEAN has given the country the impetus to fulfill its obligations toward growth.
“We hope that Timor Leste will put in incredible work to accelerate the implementation of the road map and in due time, will become ready to be a full ASEAN member,” Kao said on Monday, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
