Prime Minister attends the Closing Ceremony of the Specialisation Training Course in Economic and Financial Crime
The Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, took part in the Closing Ceremony of the Specialization Training Course in Economic and Financial Crime, held at the Hotel Timor, in Dili, on October 20th, 2023.
The course, aimed at the judiciary, was organised as part of the Partnership for Improving Service Delivery by Strengthening Public Finances Management and Supervision in Timor-Leste (PFMO) project, called “Osan Povu nian - Jere ho Di'ak“ (People's money - need to be well managed), and was scientifically and pedagogically coordinated by the University of Coimbra. PFMO – “Osan Povu nian - Jere ho Di'ak” is a project co-funded by the European Union and co-funded and managed by Camões, I.P.. 
The course ran for four weeks, between September 25th and October 19th, 2023, in Baucau, where the judges, divided into two groups, had classes with the professors of the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra, Professors Anabela Miranda Rodrigues and Maria João Antunes.
In his speech during the ceremony, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of responsible financial management, the role of justice in preventing corruption and the need for accountability and transparency in the administration of public resources. He also stated, “The theme 'Osan Povu nian - Jere ho Di'ak' is in itself a fundamental issue for the nation's life and one that transcends the boundaries of time”. 
“As a young state, Timor-Leste does not escape the vicissitudes of the anomalies arising from the fragility of states in the making“ and “when we identify ourselves as a fragile state, we only mean to recognise the crucial need to nourish the State institutions with the premises of seriousness and responsibility in actions”, he said.
The Head of Government emphasised “that the problem of corruption does not only come from a direct act, from the people involved in the decision-making process on spending” and that “the judiciary has to do its part in this mechanism of prevention and serious and responsible verification of the expenditures made”.
Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão mentioned the case involving the former Minister of Finance, Emília Pires, as an example of what he considered “a serious and biased manipulation of facts”.
He also explained that “the Program of the 9th Government, for the next five years, will focus on Economic Development, which will imply the use of Public Money, to encourage and motivate entrepreneurship in the national private sector, productivity and job creation”.
He further stated that “this theme will have to guide all those involved in building and consolidating the State, starting from the awareness that the wages and working conditions each of us receives come from the 'OSAN POVO NIAN' (People's money) and if we do not respond with correctness and principled fairness to our duties, we are all contradicting the concept of 'JERE HO DI'AK' (be well managed), while the People continue to face the difficulties of daily life!”.
The Prime Minister wrapped up his speech by expressing the hope that this initiative “will produce its practical effects, which we would ultimately like to see be positive, in the times that follow, so that our people can truly have confidence in the fairness of decisions, that the country's justice system will have to prove with facts, as a result of the lessons learnt during the course and the possible recommendations that the Round Table may produce for a better synergy of thought and action, in the institutions whose primary duty is to ensure that the 'OSAN POVO NIAN', tenke 'JERE HO DI'AK' (People's money must be well managed”.
