Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong held talks with his Timor-Leste counterpart, Taur Matan Ruak, in Singapore on February 15, during which the host said his country supported Timor-Leste’s accession process to ASEAN.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed his hope that Timor-Leste officials will attend the courses under the “Singapore-Timor-Leste: ASEAN Readiness Support” (STARS) program.
The two leaders reaffirmed the good relations between the two countries and discussed measures to further promote their bilateral relations in the coming times.
Immediately after becoming an independent country in 2002, Timor Leste began the process of regional integration. In March 2011, it formally applied to join ASEAN and was granted observer status in 2015.
During the ASEAN summits in November 2022, the Association issued a declaration affirming the admission in principle of Timor-Leste as the 11th member of ASEAN, and allowing its participation in all meetings of the ASEAN. ASEAN, notably at the Summit plenaries, while formalizing an objective criterion-roadmap for the full membership of Timor-Leste, including on the basis of the stages identified in the reports of the fact-finding missions carried out by the three pillars of the ASEAN community.
Meanwhile, Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has expressed hope that the country can become ASEAN’s 11th member by 2023.
Singapore has pledged to support Timor Leste’s involvement in the Association.
Currently, ASEAN has ten member countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
source: lecourrier
