East Timor gains support to join ASEAN

Indonesia will renew its defense of East Timor’s admission to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) during the 48th meeting of foreign ministers from that organization’s member countries, held this week in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, said a high-ranking Indonesian foreign ministry official. The acting director for dialogue partners and interregional cooperation, Mohammad Iskandarsyah Derry Aman, specified that the Indonesian government will persistently continue to support efforts for East Timor to become a member. Derry Aman reaffirmed Indonesia’s commitment to the admission of the country as a full member of ASEAN, guaranteeing that his country would raise the question. The time has come for the association’s member countries to consider East Timor’s membership request, he said. “Indonesia is thus the first South East Asian nation to formally support Timor-Leste’s admission to ASEAN,” he added. Last April the foreign minister of Timor-Leste, Hernâni Coelho, met with ASEAN secretary-general Le Luong Minh and reiterated that ASEAN continues to be a priority for Timor-Leste’s foreign policy. Coelho said at the time that East Timor was making progress in efforts to improve institutional capabilities and build personnel capacities so it can fully take part in ASEAN activities. He added that one of the goals is to have embassies open in all ASEAN countries by early 2016.  MDT/Macauhub