KUALA LUMPUR — The 47th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) opened Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, where leaders officially welcomed Timor-Leste as the bloc’s 11th member — its first expansion in 26 years.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, hosting the summit under the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability,” presided over the signing ceremony at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, formally admitting Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, into the regional bloc.

“Timor-Leste’s place here completes the ASEAN family — reaffirming our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship,” Anwar said in his opening remarks.

“Within this community, Timor-Leste’s development and its strategic autonomy will find firm and lasting support.”

Timor-Leste, a nation of 1.3 million people that gained independence in 2002, first applied for ASEAN membership in 2011 and was granted observer status in 2022. Its admission marks the first enlargement since Cambodia joined in 1999.

The three-day summit, which runs through Tuesday, brings together leaders from ASEAN’s ten member states — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — along with key partners including the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and South Africa.

US President Donald Trump is attending the gathering, where he and Anwar are set to witness the signing of a peace accord between Cambodia and Thailand, following deadly border clashes in July.

Reflecting on Malaysia’s chairmanship of ASEAN for the fifth time since its founding in 1967, Anwar said: “Leadership is never a matter of routine; it is a matter of choice — to define priorities, renew ASEAN’s sense of purpose, and chart a course worthy of our peoples’ hopes.” — Agencies