Timor-Leste and UK Strengthen Co-operation During Catherine West's Visit
The Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, received the UK Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs for the Indo-Pacific, Catherine West, at the Government Palace on 23 January 2025, during her first official visit to Timor-Leste on 23 and 24 January. The meeting reaffirmed the bonds of friendship and bilateral co-operation, with emphasis on supporting East Timor's full membership of ASEAN and strengthening partnerships in key areas for the country's development. 
After the meeting, the Prime Minister emphasised the British Government member’s long relationship with Timor-Leste, recalling that ‘in 1999, Catherine West was in Australia and gave great support to our struggle. We are therefore very honoured by her visit to Timor’. 
The Head of Government also said that the UK Government's visit was aimed at strengthening existing bilateral cooperation and ‘on behalf of the people of Timor-Leste’ he expressed his ‘deep gratitude to the UK for all its support’ and recalled ‘that more than 30,000 Timorese currently work in the UK’, contributing annual remittances of ‘between 20 and 30 million’, which help to improve the living conditions of their families in Timor-Leste.
Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão also praised British support for Timor-Leste's membership of ASEAN and expressed that the UK and Timor-Leste share common values, such as the promotion of peace, stability and co-operation among nations.
Catherine West expressed her delight at the first official visit to Timor-Leste, saying that the UK and Timor-Leste ‘have been great friends for a long time’ and emphasised that ‘the UK has also become home to the largest Timorese community in the diaspora’. He also reiterated the UK's ‘commitment to supporting Timor-Leste to continue to develop as a stable and prosperous nation’.
During the meeting, various issues related to bilateral co-operation were discussed, as well as world politics and geopolitics, climate change and economic development.
The meeting was attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Bendito dos Santos Freitas, the Minister for Higher Education, Science and Culture, José Honório da Costa Pereira Jerónimo, the Minister for Trade and Industry, Filipus Nino Pereira and the Timor-Leste Ambassador to the United Kingdom, João Paulo da Costa Rangel. 
On the same day, the Under-Secretary of State also took part in the ‘Women in Leadership and Diplomacy Forum’ held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
