East Timor joins ASEAN in bloc’s first expansion since the 1990s

KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia AP The Association of Southeast Asian Nations welcomed East Timor as its newest member Sunday which its prime minister disclosed was a dream realized for the tiny nation Meanwhile Cambodia and Thailand signed an agreement expanding a ceasefire on their borders with the hope it will lead to a lasting peace The present day history is made Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao advised the other leaders as the flag of East Timor also known as Timor Leste was added to the other on the stage at a formal ceremony in Kuala Lumpur It was ASEAN s first expansion since the s and was more than a decade in the making For the people of Timor Leste this is not only a dream realized but a powerful affirmation of our journey one marked by resilience determination and hope he mentioned The ceremony marked the opening of ASEAN s annual summit followed by two days of high-level engagements with key partners including China Japan India Australia Russia South Korea and the U S Thailand and Cambodia sign expanded confines ceasefire Shortly after his arrival Sunday U S President Donald Trump took part as Cambodia and Thailand signed a formal expansion of the ceasefire that he helped broker this summer to end their limit conflict There was a lot of killing And then we got it stopped very briskly Trump explained before Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the agreement The terms of the agreement include Thailand releasing Cambodian soldiers held prisoner and for both sides to begin removing heavy weapons from the demarcation area There were limited details in the agreement on how it would be carried out though it revealed the leaders agreed to establish an observer company made up of ASEAN member states with the objective of ensuring the full and effective implementation Both Cambodian and Thai leaders called the agreement a joint declaration on the ceasefire while Trump dubbed it the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords This declaration if fully implemented will provide the building blocks for lasting peace Anutin explained But more importantly it will begin the process of mending our ties Hun Manet mentioned that this day marks a historic moment of profound significance for Cambodia and Thailand a day where we affirm our shared conviction that peace is unfailingly viable when nations have the courage and wisdom to pursue it together Trump stated he had signed economic agreements with both of those nations and later also concluded a deal with Malaysia Chinese Premier Li Qiang Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Japan s newly inaugurated Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi were among more than a dozen other leaders on hand Membership in ASEAN could help the one of world s poorest countries grow East Timor s accession to ASEAN gives the country which has just million people and a GDP of around billion better access to an economic group of nations with several million people and a trillion financial system Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim whose country holds the bloc s rotating chairmanship stated East Timor s accession completes the ASEAN family the affirming of our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship He mentioned ASEAN s goal was to pursue enhancement that is both resilient and fair and to safeguard the welfare of generations to come The integration of the region s youngest nation and one of its poorest demonstrates ASEAN s inclusivity and adaptability especially at a time of geopolitical flux mentioned Angeline Tan an analyst with Malaysia s Institute of Strategic International Studies As protectionism is on the rise the expansion of ASEAN demonstrates its commitment to regionalism openness and equal participation she noted The last country to join ASEAN was Cambodia in East Timor wedged between Indonesia and Australia was a Portuguese colony for over four centuries before declaring independence in Indonesia invaded nine days later beginning a brutal -year occupation that claimed tens of thousands of lives through conflict famine and disorder A U N -supervised referendum in paved the way for independence which was formally restored in In the present day it is led by two independence heroes Prime Minister Gusmao and President Jose Ramos-Horta who won the Nobel Peace Prize in They are trying to tackle high levels of unemployment malnutrition and poverty Various of the country s population live below the national poverty line Nearly two-thirds of its citizens are under years old making youth job creation a high priority Its major source of regime revenues comes from the oil and gas industry but with guidance fast becoming depleted it is looking to diversify Initially the idea of bringing East Timor into ASEAN was met with skepticism by several other members and even though that was overcome Joanne Lin co-coordinator of the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute s ASEAN Studies Centre in Singapore announced adding the nation is not without challenges Timor-Leste s administrative and institutional limit still lags behind majority of ASEAN members and full participation will require sustained technical and financial sponsorship from the secretariat and member states she mentioned But its inclusion also brings new strength and perspectives especially on issues like youth empowerment democratic governance and small-state diplomacy For East Timor ASEAN membership gives it access to the bloc s free commerce deals capital opportunities and a broader regional area East Timor applied for membership in and was granted observer status in For us this new beginning brings immense opportunity in agreement resources teaching and the digital economic system we are ready to learn innovate and uphold good leadership Gusmao declared This is not the end of a journey this is a beginning of an inspiring new chapter Source