On November 4th, 2025, the 9th Constitutional Government, through the Ministry of State Administration (MAE), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), held the groundbreaking ceremony for Timor-Leste’s first Administrative Modernisation Centre (CMA) at the MAE facilities in Caicoli, Dili.
The event was chaired by the Minister of State Administration, Tomás do Rosário Cabral, and attended by the UNDP Resident Representative, Katyna Argueta; the Minister of Justice, Sérgio de Jesus Fernandes da Costa Hornai; the Minister of Transport and Communications, Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu; Vice Minister of State Administration Jacinto Rigoberto Gomes de Deus; and Secretary of State for Local Development Mateus W. dos Santos Tallo. The ceremony included the blessing of the site by Father Mariano Quintão. 
The Administrative Modernisation Centre marks a significant step in Timor-Leste’s civil service reform, aiming to serve as a technical and institutional catalyst for administrative change, fostering simplification and innovation, and enhancing local governance. The centre will also be a dedicated space for training and knowledge exchange, supporting the Ministry of State Administration and the Ministry of Justice in their efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of decentralising administration.
In the context of administrative simplification and modernisation, the role of the One-Stop Shop, which is being implemented throughout the country as a point of contact between the Government and citizens, is also significant. The integration of the One-Stop Shop into the CMA will promote innovation, standardise procedures, and enhance local capacities, ensuring that public services are increasingly simple, accessible, and tailored to the needs of the population.
The new centre will also play a key role in fostering interoperability between the One-Stop Shop, the Municipal Portal, and other government digital platforms, enhancing the digitisation of services, information sharing, and transparency in administration. This cohesive approach will help create a more modern, efficient, and citizen-oriented public administration.
With Timor-Leste’s recent accession to ASEAN, the Centre for Administrative Modernisation also assumes a key role in aligning administrative practices with ASEAN regional standards through training, innovation, and digitisation, fostering a more competitive public sector that aligns with regional best practices.
During the groundbreaking ceremony for the Administrative Modernisation Centre, Minister of State Administration Tomás do Rosário Cabral officially handed over an Ambulift vehicle to Minister of Transport and Communications Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu.
An ambulift is a specialised vehicle equipped with a lifting platform that helps passengers with reduced mobility to board and disembark from aircraft. The vehicle, acquired during His Holiness Pope Francis’s visit to Timor-Leste, was transferred to the Ministry of Transport and Communications at their request, with the Prime Minister’s authorisation, to assist the services of ANATL, E.P., particularly in transporting people with limited mobility or severe health conditions.
The ceremony brought together members of the 9th Constitutional Government, chiefs of staff, ambassadors, representatives of international agencies, presidents of the 12 Municipal Authorities and the Administrative Authority of Ataúro, directors-general, and national directors of the Ministries of Justice and Transport and Communications, along with technicians and officials from the MAE.