As part of his official visit to Australia, the Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, on February 9th, 2023, visited nationals working under the Labour Mobility Program at Plant Smith’s Girraween plant nursery, owned by the Northern Territory Farmers Association of Australia (NT Farmers), located at Howard Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The Timor-Leste delegation was received by the company owner and President of NT Farmers, Simon Smith, who gave a brief presentation on the company’s activities, NT Farmers, biosecurity issues, and the supply of environmentally friendly (pesticide-free) agricultural products.
The responsible of NT Farmers highlighted the importance of the Labour Mobility Program and announced the intention to increase the number of annual vacancies for Timorese workers in the agriculture sector.
The Head of Government met the Timorese, who started working last October following a visit of NT Farmers to Dili. It was also expressed the interest of the NT Farmer-associated companies in recruiting, training and capacitating Timorese workers for the critical sector of agriculture, with great potential for Timor-Leste, not only at the level of emigrant remittances but also for the promotion of new agricultural projects to be started by former Timorese workers on their return.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Timorese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adaljiza Magno, the Ambassador of Timor-Leste in Canberra, Inês Almeida, the Australian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Bill Costello and other members of the national delegation.