The Interim Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Constâncio Pinto, held a meeting, on October 29th, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, in Dili, with Katherine Duffy Dueholm, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the United States of America.
During the meeting, both parties spoke about issues related to bilateral cooperation between both countries, namely, coordination of bilateral cooperation; over the resolutions at the United Nations General Assembly, on which the United States requested the support from Timor-Leste; over import and export; cooperation in the area of security; the support from the United States of America to Timor-Leste, in its application to ASEAN; the contribution of Timor-Leste in the process of combating Ebola, amongst others.
“This meeting was, basically, a sharing of information on bilateral cooperation and on the request for support, made by the United States, on what concerns to the discussions over the United Nations’ resolutions”, referred Constâncio Pinto.
The United States of America, through their Chargé d’Affaires, expressed their promptness in supporting the enrolment process of Timor-Leste in ASEAN, namely in regards to technical assistance with greater emphasis in the economic area.
According to Constâncio Pinto, “in what concerns our application to ASEAN, the United States expressed their promptness in supporting our agriculture, particularly on quality control and food hygiene. It is a positive aspect, because once the settled criteria are satisfied, we will be able to start exporting products to the ASEAN market”.
Also present in this meeting were the Director for the USAID Mission in Timor-Leste, John H. Seong, and the National Director for Timor-Leste and North America Cooperation, Vânio Florival.