Government of Timor-Leste

Secretary of State for Defence Júlio Tomás Pinto was in Hawai to take part in the IV Annual Bilateral Defence Meeting between Timor-Leste and the United States of America, which took place from 9 to 11 April, 2013.

According to the Secretary of State for Defence, “the USA is ready to continue proving support to Timor-Leste in the area of defence, more precisely to F-DFTL”.

“We agreed that, for the future, we may conduct joint military exercises between the Forces of the two countries continuously and on an annual basis.  There is also the possibility of the US Defence Force provide the Non Commissioned Officer Academic training course to our sergeants. This training course will take place in Timor-Leste and will also involve Portuguese advisers who have so far been providing support in this area. In addition to this, the possibility also exists for our Naval Component to undergo a training course in the USA”, the Timorese Secretary of State stressed.

Again on this subject, Mr. Júlio Tomás Pinto clarified the following: “first of all these are opportunities for F-FDTL members currently undergoing English training courses in Metinaro. In any case, this does not mean that no other opportunities exist for other F-FDTL members, all the more because the USA will continue to provide support to F-FDTL in several training programmes”.

The delegation of the Secretary of State for Defence to this annual bilateral defence meeting was made up of the F-FDTL Deputy Chief of Staff, Brigadier-General Filomeno Paixão de Jesus, the Head of the Military House of the Presidency of the Republic, Colonel José da Costa Soares “Trix”, the Director for Strategic Planning and International Cooperation, Martinho Maia Gonçalves.