MCAE leads an inter-ministerial meeting on Timor-Leste's accession to the WTO
The 8th Constitutional Government remains determined, making every effort and with political will, to accede soon to the World Trade Organization (WTO). To achieve this political commitment, the Interministerial Committee, led by the Minister for the Coordination of Economic Affairs (MCAE), Mr Joaquim Amaral, current Chief Negotiator for Timor-Leste's accession to the WTO, held today, in the Novo Turismo Hotel, a second meeting with the members of the Interministerial Committee, to update them on the work that Timor-Leste has already done to become a member of the World Trade Organization.
The establishment of this Interministerial Committee and its Working Group is based on the order N. 009/PM/III/2020. This order was amended on June 20th, 2021, with order N. 077/PM/VI/2021, aiming to continue strengthening the working measures in several areas of responsibility, namely in the articulation of policies and legislative measures imposed during the negotiation process of Timor-Leste's accession to the WTO. The accession of Timor-Leste to the World Trade Organization is also part of the national foreign policy goals set out in the 8th Constitutional Government's Programme.
Based on this order, the Members of the Interministerial Committee come from relevant State institutions and Autonomous agencies and have been sharing their ideas, through this Working Group, to draft and prepare the responses to the requirements that are set by the WTO member countries. Until now, the Working Group Team for Timor-Leste's WTO accession continues to make every effort to respond to the requests from WTO member countries regarding Timor-Leste's commitment to becoming a WTO member.
The Interministerial Committee is comprised of members from the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals and the Ministry of Justice. The order also highlights that the members of the Interministerial Committee form a Working Group that also involves the Secretary of State of Environment and the Secretary of State of Professional Training and Employment, besides the Autonomous Agencies TradeInvest, SERVE, IQTL, AIFAESA, ANC and the Central Bank of Timor-Leste.
This meeting, also attended by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture, Longuinhos dos Santos, and the Secretary of State for Arts and Culture, Teófilo Caldas, also addressed relevant issues related to the agreement that the Timor-Leste Government, through the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Joaquim Amaral, signed with the Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Daren Tang, in Geneva, Switzerland, on the November 30th, 2021.
Opening the meeting of the Interministerial Committee, Timor-Leste's Chief Negotiator for WTO accession, Joaquim Amaral, expressed his pride for all the efforts already made by the Timor-Leste’s Interministerial Committee and Working Group in this accession process.
“I would like to ask all members of the Interministerial Committee to continue our support for the accession process, at political and technical levels, especially so that we can speed up pending legislation and internal reforms aimed at facilitating trade activities and creating a favourable environment for the private sector, both domestic and foreign, as a way of adhering to the WTO General Principles”, said Joaquim Amaral.
The MCAE, as the Minister responsible for Timor-Leste's accession to the WTO, continues to coordinate intensively with all parties, internal and external, to articulate the Government of Timor-Leste's policy throughout the accession process.
During this second meeting of the Interministerial Committee, the MCAE also officially handed over the Annual Report on the "Progress of Timor-Leste's Accession to WTO - July 2020 to July 2021" and the Working Report of the Timor-Leste’s Working Group Team visit to Geneva, Switzerland, from November 27th to December 3rd, 2021.
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