Joining ASEAN may slip down East Timor’s priority list

Significance

Gusmao was inaugurated as premier at the start of July, after victory for his party in the May parliamentary elections. At the inauguration ceremony, President Jose Ramos-Horta said working on East Timor’s projected accession to ASEAN should be the government’s top priority.

Impacts

• The criticism of ASEAN’s response to the Myanmar crisis will likely cost East Timor goodwill among at least some of the group’s members.
• Economic growth will be solid rather than spectacular over the next few years.
• Political conditions should be more settled after years of unstable government.