The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed in principle to admit East Timor as the groups 11th member.
The half-island nation, officially called Timor Leste, will also be granted observer status at high-level ASEAN meetings, the bloc said after regional leaders met in Phnom Penh for a summit.
The East Timorese voted for independence from a brutal occupation by neighbouring Indonesia in a 1999 U.N.-supervised , and the country was officially recognised by the United Nations in 2002, making it Asias youngest Democracy.
The resource-rich country of 1.3 million people immediately started the process of accession to ASEAN, but only formally applied for membership in 2011.