Government of Timor-Leste

The Secretariat of State for Art and Culture (SEAC - Portuguese acronym) organized on July 19^th, 2022, the launching ceremony for the construction of the future building of the National Library of Timor-Leste, in Hudi-Laran, Dili. The construction of the building is expected to take 18 months.

The project results from a partnership between SEAC and the National Authority of Petroleum and Minerals (ANPM – Portuguese acronym) and will have a cost of ten million US dollars, to be financed by the Italian multinational oil company ENI, as a counterpart of the agreement to explore an oil field in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA), in the Timor Sea. ANPM will manage and supervise the quality of the construction, following ENI standards and international best practices.

The Prime Minister said that the construction of the National Library of Timor-Leste will “endow the country with an institution with the duty to preserve, defend and value the Timorese cultural heritage, through the conservation of books, newspapers, magazines and other publications, whose collection will be available to citizens, students, researchers and tourists”.

“A commitment to enhancing the Timorese cultural heritage, which, following the example of National Libraries in most developed countries, aims to promote the right of access to education and culture, provided for in Article 59 of the Constitution of the RDTL, through the defence of cultural creation, the collection and deposit of published works of Timorese authors and of works that promote cultural, literary, technical or scientific diversity, in a space that will certainly become a platform for the creation and sharing of knowledge”.

The Head of Government added that “this is a first and important step to provide Timor-Leste with a set of infrastructures essential to the good functioning of the transversal sector of culture and traditional heritage, which, in the future, will integrate a national museum, cultural centres and gardens, and an academy of arts and creative industries, which, by promoting the emergence of new Timorese artists and authors, will certainly contribute to the richness of the country's cultural identity and the patriotic feeling of our People”.