Othman is the former secretary general of Malaysia’s foreign ministry and was selected by Malaysia to try and implement ASEAN’s peace plan in Myanmar. He is ASEAN’s fifth special envoy to Myanmar since the conflict started in 2021.
Mohamad said Othman would visit Myanmar “soon”.
ASEAN continues to bar the junta leadership from its summits over their failure to comply with the peace plan they had initially agreed to, which has vexed the bloc’s most prominent countries.
Despite being battered on multiple frontlines, contending with a collapsing economy and dozens of political parties banned, the junta is pushing to hold an election in 2025 – an exercise widely derided by critics as a sham.
FACILITATING TIMOR-LESTE’S ACCESSION
During the press conference, Mohamad added that ASEAN foreign ministers welcomed Timor-Leste’s progress in implementing a roadmap for its full membership into the bloc.
He added that the member countries were committed to facilitating Timor-Leste’s accession to ASEAN.
“Many highlighted the need to support Timor-Leste’s efforts through capacity-building and specific technical support programmes,” said Mohamad.
Timor-Leste participated in the retreat as an observer. It was represented by its Minister of Foreign Affairs Bendito dos Santos Freitas.
Asia’s youngest country has been waiting to be a member of ASEAN since 2011. It was only in November 2022 during the chairmanship of Cambodia that the 10 ASEAN countries agreed in principle for Timor-Leste to join and granted it observer status.
In May 2023, the bloc adopted a roadmap for Timor-Leste’s full membership to support the nation in fulfilling the membership criteria.
In a recent exclusive interview with CNA, Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta expressed hope that his country could become ASEAN’s 11th member in 2025.
“We have made tremendous progress (since 2023),” said Ramos-Horta.
“At the same time, I think ASEAN leaders, most of them, all of them, realise that it is enough, what Timor-Leste has done to merit immediate membership. That it is not realistic, (or) even fair, to expect Timor-Leste to join ASEAN only when it has reached the level of Malaysia, Singapore or Thailand.”
A SINGLE ASEAN VISA FOR TOURISTS?
At the same time, ASEAN nations are discussing ways to simplify cross-border travel between member states to facilitate ease of movement and promote tourism.
Malaysia’s Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing said on Sunday that tourism is a vital pillar of economic growth in the region, hence improving cross-border collaboration is essential for creating a competitive and accessible tourism environment.
“We must simplify policies that will increase the number of tourists coming in. Of course, we cannot be tolerant on the security front but I believe this issue should be discussed further within our respective countries,” he said after chairing the 28th ASEAN tourism ministers’ meeting in Johor Bahru.
