Dili, Oct. 20, 2025 (Lusa) - Former Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Zacarias da Costa said in an interview with Lusa that Timor-Leste will contribute to a much more open and democratic Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"I believe that Timor will be able, with its entry into ASEAN, to contribute to a much more open, much more democratic regional space. Of course, little has changed; we still have different political regimes with democracies, monarchies and situations that we know about," he said.
"It's important to believe that we all have the objective of contributing to this community of ours being a true space of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights, and Timor could bring this very important contribution to ASEAN," emphasised the former executive secretary of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).
On the 26th, during the summit of heads of state and government of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Timor-Leste will become the organisation's 11th member state, 11 years after it formalised its application for admission.
Zacarias da Costa was the one who formalised Timor-Leste's application to join ASEAN in March 2011, when he was head of Timorese diplomacy.
Asked by Lusa why it took 14 years to finalise the accession, the former minister said it was "normal in such a complex and difficult process".
"We had many challenges, the political crises that happened in Timor, Covid and other efforts that were necessary to adjust, harmonise the laws internally and prepare ourselves," says Zacarias da Costa, congratulating the efforts made by the government.
"They did a commendable job," he says.
The former Timorese minister also recalls that it wasn't easy to convince the ASEAN member states to accept Timor-Leste's accession, recalling that the President of Indonesia at the time, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was a great supporter.
"I remember that Singapore was always against Timor's entry, but times have changed, policies have changed, people have changed, and fortunately, on 26 October, we will see this dream come true," he said.
Zacarias da Costa recalls that at the time Singapore defended a "position of principle", which came from Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore's prime minister between 1950 and 1990) and which considered Timor-Leste to be part of the Pacific and not Southeast Asia.
"I believe that this position did not change with the prime ministers who succeeded him, and it was difficult for the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs to change this line of orientation. Lately, work has been done on a diplomatic level, not only within ASEAN by the Timorese government, but also outside, by Australia and all the countries that supported Timor's integration into this regional space," he explains.
Regarding the positive aspects and the negative impacts of joining ASEAN, Zacarias da Costa emphasises that Timor-Leste will be joining a "dynamic regional space" that is "growing rapidly", which could bring more economic development to the country, even though it is not yet ready.
"Now negative impacts, I would say how is it possible to make then national interests compatible with the interests of other member states, and how can we quickly catch up with the train already in motion, looking at what our legislation is, which we have to adapt, the expectations that we have and that ASEAN itself has of Timor-Leste and be able, within this balance and as quickly as possible, to adjust to a different way of being and being," asks the former executive secretary of the CPLP.
For Zacarias da Costa, the biggest challenge for Timor-Leste is to show that things work.
"That's the most important thing. Often we have high expectations, but then we can't fulfil them. We can't keep going at this pace, we can't keep having scandals and scandals, we have to show that Timor-Leste is more efficient and that we are ready to compete with this wider market that is ASEAN," he concludes.
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