Government of Timor-Leste

The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fidelis Manuel Leite Magalhães, met, on June 22^nd, 2021 with the President of the Board of Directors of the Imprensa Nacional de Timor-Leste, I.P. (INTL), the national press, Jaime Correia, and with the other members of the INTL’s Board of Directors, at the Government Palace, in Dili.

This meeting with the Minister who is in charge of the public institute responsible for all the printing production needs of state and private entities, is the first since INTL’s directors took office, on January 14^th.

During the meeting, the members of the Board of Directors took stock of the activities of this public institute, the preparation of the budget plan for 2022, and the challenges and constraints facing the institution.

The directors asked the Minister’s support to raise the awareness of  Government members and State entities to use the services of the National Press, not only because it means savings in public spending, but also because INTL ensures quality services, as well as confidentially and security. As referred in the Government Resolution Nu. 8/2016, of March 2^nd, “all state bodies and other public entities must purchase, directly from [Imprensa] Nacional, the services and products that it has the capacity to perform”.

The Minister Fidelis Magalhães, congratulated the members of INTL’s Board of Directors, who in a short period of time and despite of the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, managed to resolve several pending issues in the process of transforming INTL into a public institute, in order to effectively comply with the provision of Decree-Law Nu. 1/2017, of March 15^th, which created INTL and gave it the status of a public institute.

The Minister also expressed his satisfaction for knowing that most of the employees of the National Press have already received at least one dose of the vaccine against COVID-19. Given that the pandemic is a major challenge to the normal activity of the State, it is essential that civil servants are vaccinated, added the Minister.

Fidelis Magalhães also conveyed the availability of the services of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to support INTL, namely in verifying the existing legislation related to the institution and preparing the necessary legal diplomas to achieve the proposed goals.

Besides President Jaime Correia, INTL’s Board of Directors is also composed of Beatriz Ximenes Martins, Vice-President and Member of the Board, Elídio da Cruz de Carvalho, Member of the Board, and Natalino Auxiliadora de Deus, Statutory Auditor.