ASEAN Summit Key To Timor-Leste's Full Membership Roadmap, Oman's Exploration Of Cooperation

By Amanina Mohamad Yusof and Mohd Ashraf Shafiq Mazlan

SEPANG, May 22 (Bernama) -- As the ASEAN Summit set to begin next Monday, Timor-Leste has expressed its appreciation for the opportunity to learn and deepen its integration into the regional bloc, describing the upcoming summit as a vital platform to deepen its understanding of ASEAN processes and fulfil its ASEAN membership roadmap.

Vice-Minister for ASEAN Affairs and ASEAN Senior Official of Timor-Leste, Milena Maria da Costa Rangel, said that their participation in this week’s ASEAN-related meetings, including the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM), ASEAN Coordinating Council (AECC), and the ASEAN Summit, offers a vital learning platform for the country.

“The more we're getting to participate in ASEAN meetings, the more we're starting to understand the processes of ASEAN.

“We understand and I think that one of the criteria required (in the roadmap to be an ASEAN member) is the readiness of Timor-Leste in hosting ASEAN meetings in the future,” she told Bernama here.

Since being granted observer status in 2022 and receiving in-principle approval as ASEAN’s 11th member, Timor-Leste has been actively implementing the roadmap.

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“My main portfolio is in the process of getting Timor-Leste into ASEAN. We have been doing, I think we've been implementing quite significant the criteria under the roadmap. 

“Even during the SOM, there will be a chance for Timor-Leste to speak, and as usual, we would like to update where we are in terms of the implementation of the roadmap,” she said.

Timor-Leste has sought to join ASEAN since 2011, with the association assisting the country in meeting membership requirements.

At the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in November 2022, the regional bloc agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste as its 11th member, contingent on meeting the criteria outlined in the Full Membership Roadmap.

The roadmap specifies three working plans on politics and security, economy, and social and cultural ties that Timor-Leste has to carry out before it will be granted full ASEAN membership.

Meanwhile, Oman's senior official Sheikh Ahmed Hashel Al Maksari said Oman is pleased to be part of the second ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

“We are coming here to explore opportunities for cooperation in different fields, and we are confident that the two blocs will be able to grow further in their relationship. 

“The first round of this meeting happened in Riyadh in 2023, and we are happy that now, as it was committed, they will host the second meeting,” he said, adding that  Oman is eager to learn from and collaborate with ASEAN countries across different sectors.

He also said that Oman has an excellent relationship with Malaysia and the rest of the ASEAN countries and that discussions between Oman and ASEAN have always been positive.

“We will see now, as a group of GCC countries, what we can do together with the group of ASEAN,"  he added.

Milena and Sheikh Ahmed Hashel are the earliest senior officials who arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here last night to attend the ASEAN Summit, which will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) on May 26 and 27, alongside the second ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and the inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit.

With the theme Inclusivity and Sustainability, this will mark Malaysia’s fifth time chairing ASEAN, following previous terms in 1977, 1997, 2005 and 2015.

-- BERNAMA