Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers on July 28th, 2025, and 2nd Interministerial Coordination Meeting on Timor-Leste's Accession to ASEAN

Spokesperson of the Government of Timor-Leste

Ninth Constitutional Government

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Press Release 

Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers on July 28^th, 2025, and 2nd Interministerial Coordination Meeting on Timor-Leste's Accession to ASEAN

The Council of Ministers met in the Noble Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in Dili and approved a draft Government Resolution calling on the Kingdom of Thailand and the Kingdom of Cambodia to immediately cease all hostilities and take concrete measures to prevent the escalation of the ongoing conflict, which has already caused unnecessary loss of life, destruction of property and displacement of populations.

In the resolution adopted, the Government of Timor-Leste expresses its support for initiatives to use peaceful dispute resolution mechanisms available within ASEAN, recalling in this context the role of the ASEAN Chairmanship between 2008 and 2011, third-party mediation or recourse to competent international bodies, in accordance with international law.

The Government also expresses Timor-Leste's full readiness to work with all ASEAN Member States and international partners in promoting a peaceful, lasting and mutually acceptable solution that safeguards the legitimate interests of both parties, but effectively and definitively promotes peace and the protection of the people.

The extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers followed the 2nd Interministerial Coordination Meeting on Timor-Leste's accession to ASEAN, also held in the Noble Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and chaired by Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão.

The interministerial meeting, which followed the Declaration of the 46th ASEAN Summit, adopted in Kuala Lumpur on May 26^th, 2025, and the Government Resolution approved on May 29^th, aimed to assess the progress achieved since the first coordination meeting and to accelerate the formal procedures necessary for Timor-Leste's full membership of the organisation.

Progress in technical preparations for accession to key ASEAN economic agreements was reviewed, including the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS), the Movement of Natural Persons (MNP) and the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), as well as preparations for accession to the legal instruments in the three pillars of the organisation – political and security, economic and socio-cultural. Progress on visa waiver agreements with ASEAN Member States, remaining challenges and next steps were also discussed, and the timetable for future steps to accelerate the accession process, scheduled for October 2025, was presented and discussed. END