Accession of East Timor to ASEAN

The accession of East Timor to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a process that started following the independence of the country in 2002 when its leaders stated that it had made a "strategic decision" to become a member state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the future. The country officially applied for membership in 2011.

Closer ties with ASEAN are supported by all political parties in East Timor. East Timor would have by far the smallest GDP in the ASEAN, less than 15% of the smallest current ASEAN member state Laos. In 2022, the country was admitted "in principle" as the organization's 11th member, with full membership pending.