\n<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hails membership as beginning of an \u2018inspiring new chapter\u2019 for Asia\u2019s youngest nation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n East Timor has joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the bloc\u2019s 11th member state in a move Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hailed as a \u201cdream realised\u201d.<\/p>\n The flag of East Timor, which is also known as Timor-Leste, was added to ASEAN\u2019s other 10 on Sunday at a formal ceremony at the bloc\u2019s annual summit at the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, drawing loud applause.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n An emotional Gusmao said it was a historic moment for his country, with a new beginning that would bring \u201cimmense opportunities\u201d for trade and investment.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the people of Timor-Leste, this is not only a dream realised, but a powerful affirmation of our journey \u2013 one marked by resilience, determination and hope,\u201d Gusmao said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur accession is a testament to the spirit of our people, a young democracy, born from our struggle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not the end of a journey. This is the beginning of an inspiring new chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country currently chairs ASEAN, said that East Timor\u2019s accession \u201ccompletes the ASEAN family \u2013 reaffirming our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship\u201d.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s admission follows a 14-year wait, and is seen as one of the crowning achievements of Malaysia\u2019s ASEAN chairmanship.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s future through regional integration.<\/p>\n East Timor was granted observer status to the regional body in 2022, but its full membership was delayed by various challenges.<\/p>\n The country of 1.4 million people is among Asia\u2019s poorest and hopes to see gains from integrating its fledgling economy, which at about $2bn represents only a tiny fraction of ASEAN\u2019s collective $3.8 trillion gross domestic product (GDP).<\/p>\n Some 42 percent of East Timor\u2019s population lives below the national poverty line, while nearly two-thirds of its citizens are under 30 years old.<\/p>\n Its major source of government revenue comes from the oil and gas industry, but with resources quickly becoming depleted, it is looking to diversify.<\/p>\n ASEAN membership gives East Timor access to the bloc\u2019s free trade deals, investment opportunities and a broader regional market.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIf 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,\u201d Ramos-Horta said.<\/p>\n ASEAN began as a five-member bloc in 1967 and has gradually expanded, with Cambodia previously the most recent addition in 1999.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hails membership as beginning of an \u2018inspiring new chapter\u2019 for Asia\u2019s youngest nation. East Timor has joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the bloc\u2019s 11th member state in a move Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hailed as a \u201cdream realised\u201d. The flag of East Timor, which is also known […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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