Regarding the Democratic Republic of
Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor), Southeast
Asia’s newest state (it gained its independent
status in May 2002 and had been under
Indonesian rule since 1975), it submitted a
formal application for full ASEAN
membership in March 2005. While there is no
plan for future enlargement on an EU scale
(the EU states increased from 15 in 1995 to 28
today), a Working Group was formed to assess
Timor-Leste’s readiness to join ASEAN. The
application, which has garnered the strong
support of several member states, is currently
being reviewed. When Timor-Leste, which
consists of the east half of the island of Timor
and a small territory around the port city of
Oecusse inside Indonesian West Timor,
becomes a member, ASEAN will be the only
regional organization whose membership
covers all the countries comprising the
geographical region.
The key results of the student survey
conducted in November of 2012 are outlined
below