Presidency of the Council of Ministers

Eighth Constitutional Government

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Press Release

Meeting of the Council of Ministers on March 1st, 2023

The Council of Ministers met at the Government Palace in Dili and approved the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Joaquim Amaral, for the first amendment to Decree-Law 23/2009, of August 5^th, on the regime of administrative offences against the economy and food safety.

This draft Decree-Law had already been subject to deliberation at the Council of Ministers meeting of February 8^th, 2023; however, due to some amendments in the final drafting phase, it became necessary to submit it to a new deliberation.

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The Council of Ministers approved the draft Decree-Law, presented by the Prime Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, for the first amendment to Decree-Law No. 6/2018, of March 14^th, setting the value of the subvention to be granted by the State to candidates for the Presidency of the Republic electoral campaigns.

This amendment aims to make it possible to compensate candidates for the Presidency of the Republic in situations where it is necessary to hold a second ballot within the same presidential election.

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The Council of Ministers, as per the project presented by the Minister of Public Works, Abel Pires da Silva, decided to approve the addendum to the public contract no. ICB/021/MPWTC-2015 – regarding the contract for the rehabilitation of the Manatuto – Baucau road (Package A01-02), referring to the Project for the Rehabilitation of National Road No. 1, extending the estimated deadline for delivery of the work to 200 days from the effective date of the contract, with an increase in contractual cost in the amount of US$ 2.8 million.

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The Minister of Tourism, Commerce and Industry, José Lucas do Carmo da Silva, made two presentations on the political-legislative options underlying the initiative to create a Framework Law for Tourism Activities and underlying the initiative to establish a Timor-Leste Tourism Authority.

• The initiative to establish a Framework Law on Tourism Activities aims to establish a tourism system, on supply and demand, with the definition of the basis of organisation, monitoring, supervision, promotion and fostering of tourism activities. This framework law will apply to public and private sector tourism activities, domestic and international tourists, residents, service providers and suppliers of tourism products and services, and other tourism agents.
• The Timor-Leste Tourism Authority, overseen by the member of the Government responsible for tourism, shall be responsible for implementing the tourism policy and strategic plan for promoting, empowering, coordinating, monitoring and developing the private and public sectors, contributing to the promotion and strengthening of tourism and the economic development of the country.

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The Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Julião da Silva, presented the political-legislative options underlying the initiative to establish a staffing regime to support Timor-Leste’s ASEAN accession activities.

A preliminary presentation was made on the criteria for procurement and the responsibilities of the entity that will be created for this purpose, and information about the procurement procedures and the selection process.

The staffing regime is being developed to ensure that highly qualified professionals are hired so that Timor-Leste is well prepared to meet the requirements and obligations necessary for ASEAN membership.

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Lastly, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Territory, José Maria dos Reis, and the working group for the regularisation of payments under construction contracts and directly related service contracts gave a preliminary presentation of the results of the identification of the contracts, their causes and amounts, and the possibilities for their regularisation. END