East Timor has officially joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional alliance of Southeast Asian nations. The country gained membership in the alliance after 14 years of efforts.

On the other hand, ASEAN gained a new member for the first time in 26 years, bringing the number of members of this regional alliance to 11 for the first time.

This information was reported by TRT World in a report on Sunday (October 26).

The 47th ASEAN summit began in Malaysia on Sunday. Leaders of the alliance countries signed the formal document admitting East Timor as a member at the opening ceremony at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.

Malaysia is the current chair of ASEAN, and as such, the country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is hosting the summit for the fifth time. The three-day summit will continue until next Tuesday.

East Timor applied for ASEAN membership in 2011 and received observer status in 2022. The country finally officially became a member in 2025.

ASEAN was established in Bangkok on August 8, 1967. The current member countries of the alliance are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the main theme of this year’s conference has been set as “Inclusion and Sustainability.” Leaders from various strategic partner countries, including the United States, South Africa, Brazil, China, Japan, and South Korea, are also participating.

US President Donald Trump is also attending the summit. He will be present with Anwar Ibrahim at the signing of a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, which was the scene of deadly clashes between the two countries last July.

East Timor, a country of about 1.3 million people, gained independence in 2002. It is the first new member state to join ASEAN since Cambodia in 1999.