On July 18th, 2024, the Ministry of Education signed a bilateral cooperation agreement with the Government of Brazil as part of the Timor-Leste Vocational Secondary Education Teacher Training Pilot Project. The signing ceremony took place in the Ministry of Education’s conference room in Dili. 
The bilateral Cooperation Agreement was signed by the Minister of Education, Dulce de Jesus Soares, and the Chargé d’Affaires of the Brazilian Embassy in Dili, Rita de Cássia Lott Marques, in the presence of the Secretary of State for General Secondary Education and Vocational Secondary Education, Domingos Lopes Lemos.
In his speech, the Secretary of State for General Secondary Education and Vocational Secondary Education stressed that education is essential in the 9th Government’s Programme to achieve a transformative education for society and fulfil Timor-Leste’s development vision.
“The collaboration between Timor-Leste and Brazil in the field of education has already produced good results through several previous programmes. We are very motivated by the prospect of taking this partnership to new levels of success”, added Secretary of State Domingos Lopes Lemos. 
The Chargé d’Affaires of the Brazilian Embassy in Dili, Rita de Cássia Lott Marques, said she believed “that this pilot project will be a success and we hope that the success of this project will continue more widely next year and that the Brazilian teachers together with their Timorese colleagues can contribute to strengthening vocational training in Timor-Leste”.