Government of Timor-Leste

Official technicians from the Governments of Timor-Leste and Indonesia, gathered, at a second technical cooperation meeting, on April 27^th and 28^th, in Bali. The aim of the meeting was to analyse the progress made on bilateral relationships between the States of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Republic of Indonesia, after getting the results of the Senior Official Meeting Scorecard (SOM Scorecard), which took place in Díli, in 2013. The Timorese delegation was headed by the Director General for Foreign Affairs of the MoFAC, João Freitas da Câmara, and the Indonesian delegation headed by the Deputy Coordinator of the Ministry of Policy, Legality and External Security, Agus Sriyono.

The participants of the meeting were divided into six working groups in order to discuss the priorities in bilateral cooperation: Working Group for Legal and Judiciary Affairs, headed by the National Director for Bilateral Affairs from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Marcos da Costa; Working Group on Commerce, Investment and Finance, headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Environment, Cosme da Silva; Working Group on Transport, Telecommunications and Public Works, headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Fernando Carvalho da Cruz; Working Group on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, headed by the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Lawrence Sources; and Working Group for Social, Educational and Cultural Affairs, headed by the Director General of Higher Education, of the Ministry of Education, Abrão dos Santos.

João Freitas da Câmara mentioned that this technicians' meeting aims to review technical cooperation between both countries, as well as to evaluate and continue the program by sharing information related to SOM Scorecard system. This year's meeting, led by Indonesia, was held in Bali, and the groups focused on some topics that have already been implemented and others that are still in the implementation phase, with continued cooperation.

The Deputy Coordinator for the Ministry of Policy, Legality and External Security, Agus Sriyono, expressed his pride in being able to lead the meeting with Timor-Leste. He referred to the visit of President Taur Matan Ruak to Indonesia on June 21, 2013, where both Heads of State attended the signature, by the Foreign Ministers of both countries, of three documents that benefit the people of Timor-Leste and Indonesia: the agenda on professional agreement between the Governments of Indonesia and Timor-Leste regarding Land Borders; free visa for diplomatic passports and the Diplomatic Memorandum of Understanding connected to Education and cooperation in training programs. In the future, one can also think about the area of communication technology, fiber optic cables and a Timorese cultural centre.

"Our recent meeting of SOM Scorecard, in 2013 in Dili, was successful and very productive. Both delegations were able to draw up a list of priorities and services to be provided, which were of agreement of both sides, "said Agus Sriyono.

At this meeting in Bali it was also decided that the next meeting of SOM Scorecard technicians, of Timor-Leste and Indonesia, would be in the city of Dili.