Timor Leste not ready to join ASEAN: Horta

Timor Leste not ready to join ASEAN: Horta

LAOS: Newly independent Timor Leste cannot afford to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for at least five years to 10 years because of the huge costs involved, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Timor Leste, which gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, is seeking greater integration with the region and will join the group's security forum as its newest member this week in Laos.

But Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta told reporters that ASEAN membership was still not on the horizon even though the country's President Xanana Gusmao said in Australia earlier this month that his impoverished country was eager to join ASEAN.

"We are not prepared to join anytime soon because it is very costly. Human resources-wise we don't have enough. Five to 10 years down the road we will join ASEAN," said Ramos-Horta, who is here to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) security conclave.

Timor Leste will join ARF on Friday. -- AP