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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DFA chief, Timor-Leste FM to hold bilateral talks ahead of ASEAN meet

DFA chief, Timor-Leste FM to hold bilateral talks ahead of ASEAN meet

Published Oct 21, 2025 02:56 pm
Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas and DFA Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro (Photos from Freitas, Lazaro Facebook, X pages)
Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas and DFA Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro (Photos from Freitas, Lazaro Facebook, X pages)
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas will hold a bilateral meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 22, ahead of Timor-Leste’s full membership to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next week.
Freitas and his delegation will be in the Philippines and Malaysia from Oct. 20 to 30, with Oct. 26 reserved for its full ASEAN membership during the 47th Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“This working visit aims to thank all ASEAN Member States for their unwavering support during the ASEAN membership process,” a statement posted by Freitas on Facebook said.
“This visit also aims to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation between East Timor and the member countries during the post-acquisition period to ASEAN,” it added.
The Minister previously visited Vietnam, Myanmar, and Brunei Darussalam.
A separate statement from the DFA said the two officials are set to discuss areas of cooperation and “advance the shared aspiration of regional peace and prosperity” as members of ASEAN.
The two countries also have a strong people-to-people relations, with Timor-Leste hosting more than 1,500 Filipinos, mostly professionals in education, administration, entrepreneurship, and engineering.
Timor-Leste’s formal membership in ASEAN will bring the regional bloc’s total number of members to 11.
In 2022, Timor-Leste was granted “in-principle” membership and since then has worked to meet the commitments required for full membership.
The requirements include hosting meetings and fulfilling bureaucratic responsibilities.
The country sits on the eastern part of the island of Timor, at the far eastern tip of the Indonesian archipelago while its western region belongs to Indonesia.
Before it became independent from Indonesia on May 20, 2002, Timor-Leste was one of its provinces, known as East Timor.
According to the DFA, the Philippines and Timor-Leste established formal diplomatic relations on May 20, 2002, coinciding with the historic restoration of Timor-Leste's independence.

Related Tags

Timor Leste DFA Ma. Theresa Lazaro ASEAN Bendito Dos Santos Freitas
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