The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has agreed in principle to admit East Timor as the group’s 11th member, the bloc said on Friday (Nov 11).

The half-island nation, which is officially called Timor-Leste, will also be granted observer status at high-level Asean meetings, the bloc said after regional leaders met in Phnom Penh to discuss the issue.

“We... agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste to be the 11th member of Asean,” the statement said, adding that next steps would include a “road map for full membership” to be submitted at next year’s summit.

The East Timorese voted for independence from a brutal occupation by neighbouring Indonesia in a 1999 United Nations-supervised referendum, and the country was officially recognised by the United Nations in 2002, making it Asia’s youngest democracy.

The resource-rich country of 1.3 million people immediately started the process of accession to Asean, but only formally applied for membership in 2011. REUTERS