The Philippines is open to the possible inclusion of Australia into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), President Marcos said.
“I cannot see why that would not be a good idea. Australia has already been a very active part of ASEAN,” he said in a media interview before leaving Melbourne on Wednesday.
“For all intents and purposes, really, in all but name, they are already a member of ASEAN. I think they would be very welcome to join ASEAN,” he added.
Mr. Marcos made the remarks after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ebrahim expressed his openness to Australia’s membership in ASEAN.
Australia, which was ASEAN’s first dialogue partner in 1974, successfully hosted the special summit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of dialogue relations.
Canberra considers ASEAN as a key trading partner, with two-way trade with the regional bloc expected to reach $400 billion by 2040.
The current ASEAN member-states are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Timor-Leste was admitted “in principle” in 2022 as the regional bloc’s 11th member but its full membership remains pending. It applied to become an official ASEAN member-state in 2011.