Kuala Lumpur, April 29 (AseanAll)  — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia hosted the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) and Related Meetings on 29 April 2025 in Kuala Lumpur. 

Photo source：ASEAN Secretariat

As part of the series of meetings, three (3) senior official level meetings were convened, namely the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting, Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ ExCom), and 18th ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Timor-Leste’s Application for ASEAN Membership (ACCWG-TL). The meetings were chaired by Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia Dato’ Sri Amran Mohamed Zin, in his capacity as the SOM Leader of Malaysia.

The SOM and SEANWFZ ExCom meetings involved the participation of SOM Leaders of ASEAN Member States. For the ACCWG-TL, the meeting witnessed the participation of representatives of ASEAN Member States from the Economic and Socio-Cultural Pillars. Also in attendance were the Deputy Secretary-Generals of the ASEAN Political-Security Community and ASEAN Economic Community. The SOM Leader of Timor-Leste attended as Observer.

The SOM Meeting discussed ASEAN’s efforts towards strengthening ASEAN Community building, including the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 scheduled to be adopted at the 46th ASEAN Summit on 26 May 2025. In this connection, the SOM congratulated and expressed appreciation to the High-Level Task Force on the ASEAN Community Vision for completing the task of developing and finalising the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and supporting strategic plans on political security, economic, social-cultural and connectivity. The meeting also discussed the progress in the implementation of the Roadmap for Timor-Leste’s Full Membership in ASEAN, application of external parties to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), and ASEAN’s external relations.

The SEANWFZ Excom meeting focused on ASEAN’s continued efforts to advance global disarmament and non-proliferation, including the longstanding goal of securing the accession of Nuclear Weapon States to the SEANWFZ Protocol, strengthening both the Treaty’s legal standing and ASEAN’s leadership in promoting a nuclear-weapon-free region.

The ACCWG-TL focused on ASEAN’s continued efforts to advance Timor-Leste’s full membership in ASEAN. The discussions reviewed the progress in the implementation of the Roadmap for Timor-Leste’s accession, strengthened capacity-building initiatives for Timor-Leste officials, and the establishment of the Timor-Leste Unit within the ASEAN Secretariat. Malaysia remained dedicated to working closely with ASEAN Member States and Timor-Leste to further advance the accession process in fostering regional unity and integration.

As a regional bloc that maintains collaboration on shared interests, all discussions at the ASEAN SOM meetings were centred on ensuring comprehensive and forward-looking approaches for a more prosperous, peaceful and secure ASEAN region.