TIMOR-LESTE is the only Southeast Asian nation that is not a part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Asean includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The 11th meeting of the Asean Coordinating Council working group on Timor-Leste's application for Asean membership was held recently via teleconference. The meeting reviewed the application of Timor-Leste to join Asean based on the three pillars of the Asean Community, namely politics-security, economy and socio-cultural cooperation.

Timor-Leste had submitted an application to join Asean in 2011 when Indonesia was the chair for Asean and since then, it has been making multiple attempts to become a member of the bloc.