At the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held on Sunday in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, Timor-Leste was accepted into the organization as the 11th member country, LETA reports citing AFP.
"Within this community, the development of Timor-Leste and its strategic autonomy will receive reliable and long-term support," said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the acceptance ceremony, whose country currently holds the ASEAN chairmanship.
Timor-Leste gained independence from Indonesia in 2002. The country applied for ASEAN membership in 2011, but the process was delayed due to its underdeveloped economy. In 2022, Timor-Leste received observer status in ASEAN.
The country has a population of 1.4 million people, and its gross domestic product is two billion US dollars per year. Meanwhile, the total population of all ASEAN member states is about 680 million people, and the combined GDP is 3.8 trillion dollars per year.
The previous expansion of ASEAN occurred in 1999 when Cambodia joined the organization.
ASEAN was founded in 1967 by the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
Other member countries include Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
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