Leaders of all 10 current member states signed the historic declaration, with Timor-Leste’s prime minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, signing last.
Following the signing, the Timor-Leste flag was added on the stage alongside those of the other member states, symbolising its formal inclusion into the bloc.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in his remarks as Asean chair at the opening of the summit, said Timor-Leste’s admission completes the Asean family, “reaffirming our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship within this community”.
Gusmao, speaking later in his first address after the signed document was presented, said it represented not just the fulfilment of a long-held dream, but “a powerful affirmation of our journey marked by resilience, determination, and hope”.
The accession was the culmination of more than a decade of efforts by Timor-Leste to join the regional grouping. The young nation first applied for Asean membership in 2011 and was granted observer status in 2022.
Since then, it has taken part in key Asean meetings while working to align its national frameworks with the bloc’s political, economic, and socio-cultural pillars.
Joanne Lin, senior fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, said Timor-Leste’s full admission was “more than just symbolic” and completes the Southeast Asian map after 14 years.
“Its membership is a powerful affirmation of Asean’s commitment to inclusivity, which is Malaysia’s chairmanship theme, and regional identity this year,” she told FMT.
She said the new member would inevitably reshape Asean’s internal and external dynamics, adding another voice to its consensus-based system while also bringing perspectives from its own experience in post-conflict recovery and democratic transition.
Ilango Karuppannan, a former Malaysian high commissioner to Singapore, said Asean must now focus on narrowing its development gap or risk deepening existing divisions.
“If we don’t do anything about it, Asean could be split into three tiers (of wealth), with Timor-Leste even further behind the others.
“We don’t want this kind of division to become finally a problem that will break Asean apart,” he said.