"Right now ASEAN has 10 members and we have heard that Timor Leste wishes to join and we openly support it," he said at an ASEAN Ministerial Meeting Retreat.
When it would be realized Marty said he had so far received no official application letter for membership.
"But openly Timor Leste has already conveyed its wish. I heard Timor Leste wishes to start processing it this year because Timor Leste is also aware of the need to follow the stages for ASEAN membership," he said.
Marty said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had also expressed his support to Timor Leste`s membership in the ASEAN through certain processes.
Indonesian ambassador to ASEAN Ngurah Swajaya on the occasion said based on the ASEAN Charter Timor Leste could become a candidate for ASEAN members in terms of requirements.
He said Timor Leste is targeting ASEAN membership in 2011 from originally 2012 but until now Timor Leste has not sent an official application letter.
He said Indonesia has so far helped Timor Leste develop its human resources and institutions since four years ago "by assigning one of our senior officials as an adviser in Timor Leste`s foreign ministry to train and prepare their diplomats to deal with ASEAN meetings."
Based on the membership regulations assessment would be carried out and meetings would be held to study their application. And later based on a consensus ASEAN members would decide whether or not to accept the new member, he said.
Right now Timor Leste is just setting up embassies in all ASEAN member countries. They have so far had four embassies namely in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, he said.
Timor Leste is now also preparing itself to host the ASEAN Regional Forum expected early this year.
Regarding the East Asia Summit planned in Indonesia in November this year, Ngurah mentioned about the European Union`s wish to join it since 2007.
Until now ASEAN has not decided if the EU could join it. East Asia Summit itself will be attended by leaders from ASEAN and six countries joining the meeting namely South Korea, Japan, the US, Russia, Australia and China.(*)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
