"We Are Ready To Join ASEAN": José Ramos-Horta, Timor-Leste President | In Conversation 

as Indonesian, I don't understand why they didn't join Oceania and choose ASEAN instead. isn't they are the one who curse or hate ASEAN being backward countries or so during their independence ? they also said that they want to become like Singapore getting their independence from Malaysia but for Oceania.

Ramos Horta, in an interview with CNN, 1999: "For generations, East Timorese will not want to hear anything about Indonesia. And joining ASEAN is very far [down] my list of priorities."

No one, even ASEAN countries belive that Timor-Leste could be free and Independent, but today we are a young and vibrant democratic country, and I'm 100% sure that Timor-Leste will thrive and prosper. It will take time, but you'll see it...!

The other countries will said NO ❌ 🤷

They already Happy with 10 members. Small groups much better to focus and communicate. Another additional 1 members can cause disruptive. As we saw just in the past 2 years.

As a person living in Timor-Leste for almost 5 years. I can say that their government is ready. Yes, there are always a room for improvement but what country does not need one? All country has a room for improvement and it is a never ending battle. There are always a bad fruit in the government but we just need to side the good ones for all things in this world always has a Yin and Yang. 🇵🇭

my biggest fear this tiny country will become big burden for member of the asean because the disparity such as economic issues with other member of asean

South East Asia? Not Oceania any more?

But ASEAN is not yet ready for TL. What can TL offer to the group?

No Way. ❌ Not too soon.

Why would someone want to build factory to Timor Leste? 1. Timor Leste have small population, small domestic market 2. Timor Leste have few natural resources, such as minerals, water , oil , coal , food , arable land, etc 3.If the factory designed for export It's location is very very far away Very far from Sydney & Canberra Very far from Java

Salah satu hal yang membuat saya bangga dengan negara saya adalah negara saya (Timor-Leste) adalah negara yang toleran (tidak ada kekerasan berbasis etnis, tidak ada kekerasan berbasis agama, tidak ada sentimen anti-Cina, anti-Barat, anti-Muslim, dan tidak ada radikalisme agama).

21 years for nothing just building images.

I'm Indonesian. It's disheartening to see some of my people commenting very pessimistic and backwards things regarding East Timor. Please don't heed any of them. We caused each other pain in the past, but in the end, we're brothers. We wish you the best and we hope you'll join ASEAN in the near future. Let's grow strong together despite our differences.

In 2003 He said Timor Leste is not part of Southeast Asian, ASEAN, Timor Leste is part of Oceanian. 🤷 Wt

When you have lot of oil reserve, you giving money to Australia, but when you run out money, you came to ASEAN. Dont get me wrong, i loved TL people, and work with them for several project, but we didnt believe with your government. Im agree with Singapore, TL need to fix their domestic problem first before joining ASEAN. greetings from Indonesia.

Not full membership yet but always try to dictate/lecture the ASEAN. 🤷

7:51 Do you believe it? We admitted that he's true the best politician and diplomatic but for me I'm not sure whether he will be able to bring the next 5 year for better living of people of TL in spite of his vast experience if we see what he has done to Alfredo Alves Reinado.

Bukti Generasi timor leste masih tertinggal. Pemimpin negara di 2023 saja masih mengandalkan generasi tua 2002. Semoga generasi muda Timor bisa bangkit

5:48 Wait, what? Violent occupation by indonesia? Seriously u guys think that indonesia all this time tried to occupied that small island? What about australia? They rob a lot of Timor Leste natural resource

3:02 - Timor-Leste has zero loans from China 4:04 - Timor-Leste only has economic deals with China, no need Defense deals 4:37 - Timor-Leste has a responsibility towards its neighboring countries 6:34 - Tolerant country 14:14 - Nation-building process in Timor-Leste 20:52 - Timor-Leste is an investor

TL merdeka yg menikmati berputar2 pada elite2 ini saja. Kasihan rakyatnya saja

We FILIPINOS giving you our 100% support vamos viva timor leste viva filipinas

I really don't like Ramos Horta. He usually had wonderful things to say, but seemed to ignore reality, like in a fairy tale. In fact, Timor Leste's 90% reliance on oil as a source of revenue Timor Leste has a poor score in the HDI, coming in at position 133 (0.436). indicates how poorly developed the country is. The unemployment rate is 20%, and 52.9% of people live on less than $1.25 USD a day. Literacy rates in Timor Leste are at 50%. In the entire world, Timor Leste has one of the lowest rates of urbanization (27%). You can dream and have optimistic thoughts, but you also need to get up and do something right. Because at this moment, the future of Timor Leste is still unclear.

Indonesia pengen timor gabung ke asean biar beban Indonesia sbg tetangga dibagi ke negara2 asean.. negara asean lain sbnrnya menolak keras krn udah tau bakalan jadi negara beban.. 😂😂😂

Hoping for the best for our Timorese neighbors

I am happy Timor Leste 🇹🇱 is progressing ....... greetings from Indonesia 🇮🇩

As a filipino, i'd like for timor-leste to join. ASEAN can bring great benefits but it may also bring problems due to costly investments, either way, if they think this will help their country, why stop them? The more the merrier. We should help each other cause we're all neighbors. Good luck to you guys :D

Hoping the best for Timor Leste for the next 10-20 years

ASEAN doesn't want Timor Leste to be her member because TL people describes herself as Portuguese people, not as Asian people 😁

Ok,.

20:01 this question kick on his face 😂

Hope next 5 years,, I can see a lot improvement

I'm very Love my own Timor-Leste🇹🇱😘😘😘

Timor Leste should replace Myanmar if the military still defies & continues rebelling.

Timor Leste ready to join Asean ! But unfortunately, Asean not ready to accept Singapore as new member !

Negara termiskin di dunia menurut bank dunia,,,

Join Asean? I thought East-Timor is more a Polynesian/Melanesian country(like Maluku,Papua,Samoa,Fiji,countries in the Pacific, etc.)), not an asian country. But maybe i'm wrong..

As an Indonesian, I just wish this will truly work out. But to put it bluntly, I'm not very confident about this. I can just imagine how dissatisfied Singapore rn. All I can say to the East Timorese is, your country better actually develops quickly in five years, develop enough to actually bring something to table, it's for your own good. If things didn't get better internationally and a war broke out (as people already danced around this Fcken topic for a while now), East Timor won't be able to use China as a threat and leverage on other ASEAN countries. I'm afraid if push comes to shove, while a war was raging outside and you guys still didn't have anything meaningful to offer, Indonesia might just take you back under its reign. Think again, if a war really broke out in a worldwide scale, no one would care enough about a small country getting annexed back. At that time, no China could be used to threaten ASEAN. This is a hard time. A storm is brewing under the surface. We never know when will NATO would suddenly declare war and make it a worldwide problem. We never know it. This isn't a threat. I sincerely wish for East Timor to actually improve and get out of poverty after your wealth was stolen by Australia, it hurt seeing East Timor got betrayed like that for me. But seeing it from a larger perspective. ASEAN being forced to take ET in just because of China makes it kinda uncomfortable. Improve. Improve. Improve. Become better. I don't really want to see when we have to choose to hurt a brother or to be vulnerable. If possible, look for the right leaders to actually build your country at this moment.

why does this woman insist on ‘chinese, chinese’ card bs?

Mid size country Pakistan, population : 230 million people.

15:45 im sorry but this is impossible, timor just doesnt have anything to offer for foreign factory, no resource, no market with that small population, geography location is also not strategic

Why you not join aukus ? You left Indonesia and right now you want join our community Asian ?😅

East Timor will join later, not under Horta, Xanana and other Old generation.

Salute comunication Avo Horta Avo Nana Marry Alkatiry

Its horta though take everything he says with a pinch of salt.

Why TL not joint oceania???????? 🤭

I'm waiting for someone to comment in Portuguese here. Is that language really used in that country, or even still using Indonesian in education and other important events?

Why east Timor not joint oceania Look like your brother? 😂😂

As a Filipino, I am so hyped for Timor-Leste to join ASEAN. I've always seen them as long-lost cousins due to the fact that only The Philippines and Timor-Leste are the only culturally Ibero-Asiatic nationsin Asia. Spain in The Philippines and Portugal in Timor-Leste.

australia puppet

Kita harus segera membangun Tembok tinggi dan Pagar berduri di sepanjang perbatasan Timor barat! ✊🇮🇩 Ini situasi Buruk Bagi Indonesia!

Ramos Horta is too ambitious to join ASEAN. He used china as a bargaining card to threaten ASEAN countries to accept Timor Leste to join ASEAN as soon as possible. It seems ASEAN feel threatened and be intimidated by Ramos Horta statement . So there is no way for ASEAN to do, they must act and accept Timor Leste to be a member of ASEAN even some criteria which was set up by ASEAN is not yet fulfilled by Timor Leste. My questions are: 1) is it Timor Leste economy getting better if joining ASEAN? 2) is ASEAN ready to take moral responsibility in term of economy and financial to help Timor Leste if Timor Leste economy collapsed? As We know together that Timor Leste economy is heavily relying on oil and gas industry. No other revenue Timor Leste can make except selling oil and gas. The problem is in 2025 to 2030 the major developed countries in Europe, America and Asia will not buy and use oil and gas anymore to run their industry, transportation etc . They will rely on renewable energy like sun, battery , Hydrogen fuel, wind turbine and water . Where will Timor Leste sell its oil and gas meanwhile those industrial countries no longer buy oil and gas ? 3) is Timor Leste ready to leave US Dollar and accept ASEAN policy if ASEAN choose to use single currency as their formal transection in the future ? 4) Is Timor Leste ready to leave or scrap its official language from its constitution (Tetun and Portuguese) if Asean choose Melayu as their official language? Because this issue has been echoed by Malaysia and Indonesia so far . 5) is it Asean countries willing to invest in Timor Leste and accept all risks and consequences in the future if their investment is failed. As we know together that Timor Leste infrastructure like airport , Electricity and telecommunications are the worst in the world . Electric goes off more often for hour and hour .Telecommunication or internet is running very slow and too expensive. International airport Nicolau Lobato in Dili is very small and can't accommodate big planes . New port in Dili is very expensive in term of tax collection. If a company establishes its factory there they will face four obstacles. 1) power (electricity) 2) internet 3) Marketing and 4) taxation.

What can u contribute to us?

With everything going on right now, the best decision to be on any creative man's heart is having a profitable investment strategy.

Why someone still believe with horta's venomous tounge??

Timor leste is really desperate to join ASEAN when they are not qualified to be a members there are so many requirements that they need to do before joining ASEAN. This is not a good sign if we let them just because we threaten us by timor leste joining china.

Nation-building is a never-ending endeavor, the questions sound degrading and the Pres. is very patience

Nai Presidente la bele ansi atu tama ba Asean sira mos dadaun iha problema barak Sira mai sei la rezolve problema iha Timor so mai para estraga Timor deit Hakarak ona koalia atu tama asena

in Timor Leste there are more bad politicians than statesmen so the facts of the life of the people seem luxurious even though they have been lied to by politicians it turns out that it is full of poverty and backwardness but unfortunately the people are aware

Timor will be better to be close relationship with ASEAN than close relationship with China

join with your ausie buddy

Congratulation Timor east 🇹🇱

I'm happy that there country is blessed with petroleum.kudos!!!

Nambah satu beban lagi ASEAN

I for one welcome Timor Leste into ASEAN 🇵🇭👍

Timor should follow the way of Singapore...

Timor Leste you could rush your money just on ASEAN meeting only. I hope Australia and New Zealand your brother always there to loan you money.

Welcome Timor Leste, i hope the best for your people :D

Beban

What will happen to TL when the oil run out and TL got weaker? China will do what the soviet did to TL an Cuba, we'll see how the Aukus response

3:00 woah let the president speak

Saya salah satu orang yg percaya bhw 100 tahun lagipun Timor Leste ga akan pernah maju. Minim SDA gitu mau jadi satu negara..Hancurlah..

Timorese

One Word "Preett..."

As an Australian I really hope you all do well . I know our government in the last 70 years has not been very nice .

País onde falam português ? Apenas dois: Portugal e Brasil. Nas ilhas africanas e em Angola, o creolo predomina. Em Moçambique, só 10% assumem o português como língua materna; em Guiné-Bissau, apenas 15% conseguem se comunicar no idioma luso. Em Timor Leste, pior ainda: o português não é entendido por quase ninguém da população !!!

I’m sure Timor Leste will grow well ^^ much love from Cambodia 🇰🇭 do your best.

21:04 You mean gambling? That's people's money not yours.

Hi!Mr.President. i admire you what your answer, no ehthnic,no religion,no anti west,east china. all of CNN killing field question,you wisely answer. Hebat sangat. i am from same Noble prize winner country in asia. I born there and now in m'sia. wish you a good health n can steer your country on world map. terima kasih Mr President danCNN

stop the corruption first

The only country want east timor join asean is Indonesia so sad

You are ready to join but unfortunately asean countries are not ready to accept you since you will only be heavy burden for them.

😅😊

As a 90s kids Indonesian, I support Timor Leste joining ASEAN. Our past is intertwined, let us align our futures too. Hopefully, we can move forward together and bury the pains of the past. Let the water flow under the bridge. ASEAN’s policy of non-intervention should be upheld, lest we disintegrate.

🫀

You should join with Aussie and Oceanic country. Why you back to Asia ??

I just wish Timor Leste stand up more against Australia exploitation. All those natural resources, and they give it to Australia cheaply. If only Timor Leste manage those resources, they will be far better country by now. If they can stand up to Indonesia, they can stand up to Australia.

Salut dengan perjuangan beliau untuk Tanah airnya Timor-Leste 🇹🇱

Welcome new ASEAN brothers and sisters. Congratulation on being part of ASEAN. Australia should worry about its own problems rather than whatever deals China and East Timor strike on bc it's quite frankly NONE of Kangaroo land's business.

The time is coming

I'm from Timor and Ami hadomi Timor Leste❤

ASEAN should assert itself on the right side of history. - The other side includes Russia, China, and North Korea.

Yeah but that china card is slowly burning up in flames so perhaps it isnt a great idea.

Let them join.

Will someone please educate me? No mean offense and purely curiosity, but why is Timor lestian president is a westerner?

Welcome Timor Leste 👍✨

Timor Leste yes

As Indonesian, the country that always get called as "invader" from timor leste, I always support timor leste to become one of the newest member of ASEAN I hope all ASEAN member will glad to accept timor leste as their family and start our cooporation and collaboration to develop a stronger and advanced south east asia region I hope ASEAN emerging countries can build security and development circle that will boost every member of ASEAN I also wait for cultural exchange from timor leste that will add more diversity and unity in ASEAN

Timor leste ini lobang bagi pertahanan Indonesia...😓