SERI ISKANDAR, Oct 11 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today confirmed Timor-Leste will be officially made an Asean member on October 26.
Anwar, who is also Asean chair, said Malaysia, through the Foreign Ministry, is working hard to ensure Timor-Leste is accepted as a permanent member of the bloc.
“We supported (Timor-Leste) from the beginning but recently, we have been working hard to ensure Timor-Leste is accepted as a permanent member of Asean.
“Thank God, with the cooperation of the Foreign Ministry, on October 26, Timor-Leste will officially become a permanent member,” he said at an event with Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) students in Seri Iskandar here today.
Also present were Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir, Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad, and UTP president Mohamed Firous Asnan.
The 47th Asean Summit will be held from October 26 to 28 in Kuala Lumpur, with influential world leaders in attendance including United States President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and heads of government of Asean countries and dialogue partners.
In the Joint Statement of the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the 58th Asean Economic Community (AEC) on July 9, ministers expressed their commitment to support Timor-Leste in accelerating its participation in Asean’s major economic agreements to facilitate full integration into the regional bloc.
Timor-Leste, the youngest country in Southeast Asia, applied for Asean membership in 2011, nine years after achieving independence on May 20, 2002.
In February, Malaysia announced a contribution of US$200,000 to the Timor-Leste Unit at the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta to accelerate the full membership process, as well as providing technical training through the Malaysia Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP), which has trained 319 Timor-Leste officials in various fields.
