The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Teresa Ribeiro, conducted an official visit to Timor-Leste from October 8 to 10, 2018.

During her stay in Timor-Leste, Teresa Ribeiro met with the President of the Republic, Francisco Guterres Lú Olo, with the Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, and several members of the Government to discuss issues related to bilateral cooperation at the political economic, commercial, educational, cultural and development sector levels and to discuss Portugal’s new Strategic Cooperation Program (PEC) with Timor-Leste for the period from 2018 to 2022.

After meeting with the Prime Minister, Teresa Ribeiro, said that “this meeting was an excellent opportunity to review the relationship between the two countries and to highlight some aspects of our cooperation in particular the issue of Portuguese language”. The Secretary of State added that “the Portuguese language that was once a language of resistance, is today a language of independence, regional affirmation and integration on a global scale”.

Teresa Ribeiro also emphasized the cooperation in the agricultural sectpr, in which “Timor-Leste has enormous potential in terms of diversification of its agriculture, and to that extent to find in this sector not only food security but also find economic resources and contribute to the country’s prosperity “.

The Secretary of State visited Portuguese cooperation projects and delivered training certificates in Portuguese to journalists, military personnel and officials of the European Union Delegation in Timor-Leste.

In the presentation of the certificates to the journalists, Teresa Ribeiro congratulated the trainees for their performance and thanked the trainers that “with their good work allowed the trainees to reach this level, with the certificates distributed proving their knowledge and their command of the Portuguese language”. The Secretary of State also stressed that today there is “a great change in the interest, commitment and dedication of all to learn the Portuguese language”.