East Timor could join Asean bloc by Oct: minister

East Timor is a step closer to fulfilling its longstanding wish to join the Southeast Asian regional bloc and could become its 11th member state by October, Malaysia's foreign minister said yesterday.

Mohamad Hasan said on the sidelines ahead of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Kuala Lumpur that Dili "has made meaningful progress in implementing a roadmap" for it to join.

East Timor is one of the world's poorest countries and some concerns remain around whether it could participate meaningfully in Asean's development agenda.

However, the bloc's foreign ministers voiced "strong support for Timor-Leste's full membership in Asean, particularly in its efforts to fulfil the remaining criteria", Mohamad told a news conference, using the country's Portuguese name.