The Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion, Verónica das Dores, represented Timor-Leste at the 32nd Meeting of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council (ASCC), held in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, on September 26^th, 2024. The meeting, chaired by Laos, had the theme “ASEAN: Strengthening Connectivity and Resilience”. 

On behalf of Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, the Minister conveyed “a warm greeting” to all the participants in the meeting and a special greeting’ and ‘gratitude’ to the Government of Laos for its hospitality and for leading the meeting.

During her speech, Verónica das Dores expressed Timor-Leste’s “solidarity with the ASEAN member states seriously affected by the recent passage of Typhoon Yagi”, saying: “Timor-Leste stands in solidarity with our ASEAN brothers and sisters at this difficult time and we recognise the collective efforts being made to mitigate the impacts of these natural disasters”.

The Minister also praised the “strategic direction provided by the ASCC Council Ministers”, emphasising the commitment to “strengthen connectivity, improve resilience and promote inclusion within the framework of ASEAN’s strategic development, anticipating future challenges”. 

Verónica das Dores also emphasised that “Timor-Leste continues to engage and strengthen internal coordination and collective efforts to achieve the key milestones of the roadmap towards full membership” of ASEAN. “The inter-ministerial working group continues to collaborate across the three pillars, especially on the ASCC Sociocultural Pillar, including ongoing work on identifying and realigning the priorities of our legal frameworks”, she said.

The Minister reiterated Timor-Leste’s commitment to “contribute to advancing the vision of the ASEAN Sociocultural Pillar, both at the regional and national levels”. 

At the end of her speech, Verónica das Dores congratulated Malaysia, which will assume the chairmanship of the ASEAN Sociocultural Pillar in 2025, reaffirming Timor-Leste’s commitment to actively participate in all related initiatives. “We are confident that the ASEAN Community will continue to achieve remarkable milestones, the impact of which will benefit all sections of society, especially the most marginalised and vulnerable”, she concluded.

The Minister was accompanied by Timor-Leste’s Ambassador to Laos, Filomeno Aleixo da Cruz, and the Timorese leader of the Senior Officials Committee for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (SOCA), Floréncio Pina Dias Gonzaga. The Timorese delegation also participated in technical meetings held between 22 and 25 September.