LEADERS of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are gathering in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, this week for their biannual summit.

With Indonesia as the bloc’s chair this year, the 42nd Asean Summit is expected to discuss several key regional issues, including a road map for Timor-Leste’s full membership in Asean.

Comprising the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nation – also known as East Timor – was granted observer status at the previous summit in Cambodia last November, when it received in-principle approval to join Asean as its 11th member state.

Youngest nation in Asia

Timor-Leste was a Portuguese colony for almost 300 years. Portugal’s withdrawal in 1974 triggered intense internal conflicts. A year later, Indonesia – which administered the western part of Timor – invaded East Timor and annexed it as its 27th province.

Over two decades of instability and violence followed, culminating in a 1999 United Nations-supervised referendum, when East Timorese voted for independence.

The country was officially recognised in May 2002, and became a member state of the United Nations the same year. That makes the resource-rich country of 1.3 million people the youngest nation in Asia.

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Timor-Leste’s non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.5 per cent in 2021, buffeted by the twin shocks of Covid-19 and tropical Cyclone Seroja, the World Bank noted. The bank has projected non-oil GDP to expand 3 per cent for 2022, supported by public spending and rebounding private consumption.

The Asian Development Bank has forecast GDP growth to be 3.1 per cent this year and 3 per cent in 2024.

A decade-long journey

While Timor-Leste has sought accession to Asean since its independence, it formally applied for membership only in 2011.

The Asean Charter indicates that admission into the group is contingent on the applicant state’s geographical location in South-east Asia, recognition by all member states, and its agreement to be bound by the Asean Charter. The applicant state must also be willing and able to carry out the obligations of membership, such as helming the bloc’s annually rotating chairmanship.

To assess the country’s readiness for accession, Asean conducted its first of three fact-finding missions to Timor-Leste in 2019 – led by the Asean Political-Security Community pillar.

The two remaining fact-finding missions for the Socio-Cultural Community and Economic Community pillars were completed in July 2022.

In November last year, Asean leaders agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste into the bloc at the 40th and 41st Asean Summits.

The leaders said then that an “objective criteria-based roadmap” for Timor-Leste’s full membership, based on milestones identified in the reports of the fact-finding missions, will be formalised and tabled at this week’s summit in Indonesia.

Singapore, which has expressed its full support in helping Timor-Leste, has launched a training programme to help equip the country’s officials with Asean knowledge and diplomatic skills.

Potential gains from Asean membership

Asean cooperates on several aspects. For instance, the Asean Free Trade Area agreement, signed by all member states, promotes the free movement of goods, services, skills and investments.

The bloc also provides a platform for dialogue and cooperation on regional security issues, helping member states to mitigate tensions and promote the peaceful resolution of disputes.

Following Asean’s in-principle admittance, Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta told Reuters that joining the bloc would benefit the young nation by expanding its diplomatic relations with Asean’s dialogue partners, increasing foreign direct investment prospects, and creating better education and employment opportunities for East Timorese.