Government of Timor-Leste

The National Institute for Manpower Development (INDMO – Portuguese acronym) is organizing an international conference with the theme "Increasing the quality and inclusiveness of Timor-Leste's technical and vocational education and training for national development". The event is being held, between today and tomorrow, in the Oka Surikmas salon, in Dili.

The conference has the support of the Australian program APTC (Australia Pacific Training Coalition) and the participation of the Timor-Leste Hotel Owners Association (HOTL).

Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, in his opening remarks, expressed his satisfaction with participating in this conference that aims to find ways to increase the capacity and the inclusion of Timor-Leste's labour force directed toward today's labour market, which needs more qualified and specialized manpower.

The Head of Government also argued that "we must have vision", because "we see that there are two things that have completely changed, that influence and trigger a major structural transformation at the employment level, one is globalisation, the other is the diffusion of technology in society". "Today, we don't live without a telephone or a computer, so our vocational training has to be based on the requirements of today's world."

This international conference was attended by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Joaquim Amaral, the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Armindo Maia, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture, Longuinhos dos Santos, the Vice Minister of Finance, António Freitas, the Vice Minister of Social Solidarity, Signi Chandrawati Verdial, the Secretary of State for Professional Training and Employment, Alarico do Rosário, the Australian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Bill Costello, development partners and representatives from civil society.