Timor-Leste’s first year in ASEAN and the road ahead

Timor-Leste’s ASEAN journey was not a short one. The country formally applied for membership in 2011, and ASEAN leaders agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste in 2022. In 2023, ASEAN adopted a roadmap (Opens in new window) identifying the steps necessary for full membership. The formal admission (Opens in new window) of Timor-Leste took place at the 47th ASEAN Summit in October 2025.

A year later, the country is beginning to use membership to expand its opportunities, strengthen its institutions, and develop a larger role in Southeast Asia. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão pointed to (Opens in new window) the chance to connect more closely with regional supply chains, attract investment and engage a market comprising hundreds of millions of people. President José Ramos-Horta has similarly framed membership in terms of what the country can contribute (Opens in new window) to regional dialogue, cooperation and conflict prevention. Dili will take its first turn as ASEAN chair in 2029 and has already commenced preparations.

Yet the road has not been entirely smooth, a dispute with Myanmar over the civil war indicative of the tensions within ASEAN itself.

One of the clearest achievements of the first year has been the speed with which Timor-Leste has begun participating in ASEAN’s institutional architecture. Soon after accession, Timor-Leste deposited the instruments of accession (Opens in new window) to ASEAN’s body of legal agreements, signalling its commitment to the organisation’s regional treaties and agreements. In June 2026, the National Parliament approved measures (Opens in new window) relating to the ASEAN Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons and the Cebu Protocol amending the ASEAN Charter to formally incorporate Timor-Leste as ASEAN’s 11th member.

The country has simultaneously established a standing presence within ASEAN. Ambassador Elisa Maria da Silva began serving as Timor-Leste’s Permanent Representative to ASEAN in 2026, providing Dili with an institutional base in Jakarta. Such participation matters because ASEAN diplomacy operates continuously, not only at annual summits.

The World Bank’s 2026 Timor-Leste Economic Report (Opens in new window) describes ASEAN membership as a timely opportunity to support the country’s economic transformation. In March 2026, Timor-Leste participated (Opens in new window) in preparatory discussions connected with the 32nd ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat, and at the 29th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting in May 2026, where participants formally welcomed (Opens in new window) Timor-Leste as ASEAN’s newest member and supported efforts to deepen its familiarity with ASEAN+3 financial cooperation. ASEAN’s Initiative for ASEAN Integration Work Plan V (2026–30) now includes (Opens in new window) Timor-Leste as its newest beneficiary.

The clearest indication of how quickly the conversation has moved forward is Timor-Leste’s preparation to assume the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2029. Only months after becoming a full member, Timor-Leste established (Opens in new window) the ASEAN Chair National Organisation Committee, a high-level mechanism responsible for preparing the country to lead ASEAN. In September 2026, discussions concerning assistance for the 2029 chair emphasised that investments in capacity should endure beyond Timor-Leste’s time in the role and strengthen its continuing participation in ASEAN. The Asian Development Bank has also discussed (Opens in new window) support relating to infrastructure, and preparations for the ASEAN chairmanship.

Integration and participation, however, has not meant agreement. In January 2026, the Chin Human Rights Organization filed a complaint (Opens in new window) in Timor-Leste against Myanmar’s military leadership. In February (Opens in new window), Timor-Leste appointed a prosecutor to examine war crimes allegations under universal jurisdiction, becoming the first ASEAN member state to initiate legal proceedings against another. Myanmar retaliated by expelling (Opens in new window) Timor-Leste’s charge d’affaires and accused the country of breaching ASEAN’s non-interference principle, exposing strain within the bloc’s consensus norms.

That leaves the question of whether Timor-Leste’s first year demonstrates successful integration into ASEAN, or whether it also reveals some of the political and institutional challenges that will shape its future membership.

The journey of Timor-Leste in ASEAN is more ambitious than it seems. Participation and institutional integration are necessary, but the Myanmar case suggests that long-term success will also depend on how Dili handles political disagreement within a consensus-based organisation. Either ASEAN will make room for a more outspoken voice, or Timor-Leste will adjust. Nonetheless in 2029, when Timor-Leste assumes the ASEAN Chair, the organisation’s newest member will have the opportunity to lead the very community it worked for years to join.