KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — East Timor’s prime minister told Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders it was a “dream come true” for his nation to be admitted to the bloc and an opportunity as it seeks to boost its struggling economy.

“Today history is made,” Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao told other leaders as the flag of East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, was added to the other 10 on stage at a formal ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.

It was ASEAN’s first expansion since the 1990s and was more than a decade in the making.

“For the people of East Timor, this is not only a dream come true, but a powerful affirmation of our journey, marked by resilience, determination and hope,” he said.

The ceremony marked the opening of the annual ASEAN summit, followed by two days of high-level engagements with key partners including China, Japan, India, Australia, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

US President Donald Trump arrived on Sunday on his first trip to Asia since returning to the White House and was expected to sign a trade deal with Malaysia later in the day. Trump would also participate in the signing of an agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, expanding a ceasefire that stopped their border conflict earlier this year.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and newly inaugurated Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are among more than a dozen other leaders expected to be present.

ASEAN membership gives East Timor, with a GDP of around $2 billion, better access to an economic community of nations with some 680 million people and a $3.8 trillion economy.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country holds the bloc’s rotating presidency, said East Timor’s accession “completes the ASEAN family, affirming our shared destiny and our deep sense of regional kinship.”

He said ASEAN’s goal was to “pursue growth that is both resilient and fair, and safeguard the well-being of coming generations.”

The integration of the region’s youngest and poorest nation – with only 1.4 million inhabitants – demonstrates ASEAN’s “inclusiveness and adaptability, especially at a time of geopolitical change,” said Angeline Tan, an analyst at the Malaysian Strategic Strategy Institute. & International Studies:

“As protectionism rises, ASEAN’s expansion demonstrates its commitment to regionalism, openness and equal participation,” he said.

The last country to join ASEAN was Cambodia in 1999.

East Timor, located between Indonesia and Australia, was a Portuguese colony for more than four centuries before declaring independence in 1975.

Indonesia invaded nine days later, beginning a brutal 24-year occupation that claimed tens of thousands of lives through conflict, famine and disease. A UN-supervised referendum in 1999 paved the way for independence, which was formally restored in 2002.

Today it is led by two heroes of independence, Prime Minister Gusmao and President José Ramos-Horta, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996.

They are trying to address high levels of unemployment, malnutrition and poverty. About 42% of the country’s population lives below the national poverty line. Almost two-thirds of its citizens are under 30 years old, making youth job creation a high priority.

Its main source of government revenue comes from the oil and gas industry, but with resources rapidly depleting, it is looking to diversify.

Initially, the idea of ​​incorporating East Timor into ASEAN was met with skepticism by several other members, and although that was overcome, Joanne Lin, co-coordinator of the ASEAN Studies Center at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said the nation is “not without its challenges.”

“Timor-Leste’s administrative and institutional capacity still lags behind that of most ASEAN members, and full participation will require sustained technical and financial support from the secretariat and member states,” he said. “But its inclusion also brings new energy and perspectives, especially on issues such as youth empowerment, democratic governance and small state diplomacy.”

For East Timor, ASEAN membership gives it access to the bloc’s free trade agreements, investment opportunities and a broader regional market.

East Timor applied for membership in 2011 and was granted observer status in 2022.

“For us, this new beginning provides immense opportunities in trade, investment, education and the digital economy – we are ready to learn, innovate and defend good governance,” Gusmao said.

“This is not the end of a journey, it is the beginning of an inspiring new chapter.”