On October 15th, 2025, Timor-Leste participated in the formal and informal sessions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), held in Geneva, Switzerland. This meeting marked the 100th formal meeting of the Committee since the adoption of the first WTO GPA in 1994.
During the session, Ambassador António da Conceição, Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the WTO, presented the progress made by Timor-Leste in the process of acceding to the Agreement on Government Procurement, reaffirming the Government’s commitment to adopting international standards of transparency, efficiency, and good governance in public procurement. 
In his speech, the Ambassador highlighted that, since the last official communication to the Committee in September 2025, the development partners to implement various technical capacity-building actions aimed at officials from key ministers and institutions.
These initiatives have been instrumental in strengthening institutional understanding of the GPA framework and providing national technical teams with the tools and methodologies necessary to prepare Timor-Leste’s Market Access Offer.
The Government is currently in the final stages of approving the formal creation of the Technical Working Group on GPA Accession, an interministerial body that will serve as a formal mechanism for coordination and internal consultation in the process of preparing the Market Access Offer. Once its creation has been formalized, the Working Group will begin its operational activities.
According to the defined timeline, Timor-Leste plans to complete the formal establishment of the Technical Working Group by the end of 2025 and submit this Marker Access Offer during the first half of 2026.
The Government considers accession to the GPA an important component of its broader strategy for integration into the international trading system, reinforcing the national commitment to transparency, good governance, and economic competitiveness.
