Timor-Leste participates in the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting
The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MFAC), Roberto Soares, travelled to the Philippines to participate in the Senior Officials Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum, from the 23rd to the 26th May.
The Philippines occupy the ASEAN rotating presidency this year and the meeting’s principle objective was to finalize preparations for the 24th Ministerial Meeting of ASEAN, to be held in Manila this August.
During his intervention at the Senior Officials Meeting the Vice Minister highlighted the importance of solving maritime disputes based on respecting international law, namely the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. He gave the example of the dispute in the South China Sea, which involves countries that belong to ASEAN.
Vice Minister Soares also mentioned Sustainable Development Goal number 13 (Climate Action), stating that “climate change is not a problem just for Small Island States, it is an issue of global security and survival”.
The Vice Minister also requested cooperation amongst the ASEAN States to combat Human Trafficking, as well as Drug Trafficking.
Parallel to this event, several bilateral meetings took place together with representatives of the Philippines, Singapore and New Zealand. These three countries support Timor-Leste.
The Timorese delegation met with Stephen Groff, Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank, an institution that supports Timor-Leste in the training of staff from different ministries, particularly in the area of economics.
The Timorese delegation, led by Vice Minister Roberto Soares, was composed of the General-Director for ASEAN Affairs, from MFAC, Jorge Camões, the Ambassador for Timor-Leste in the Philippines, Juvêncio Martins and Political Advisor, Francisco Santos.
