East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said Wednesday his country is to participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum for the first time in Laos next June.

The decision was endorsed by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during a meeting in New York of the heads of the diplomatic missions of the 10 ASEAN members Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar.

ARF is Asia's top international security forum and brings together ministers from ASEAN and their counterparts from Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States. North Korea and other countries with regional interests are often invited as well.