Timor-Leste’s delegation is currently participating in the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries from the 9th to the 13th of May 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. Once every ten years a global summit is held dedicated to the LDCs to outline both commitments and programs designed to assist development among the LDCs with the focus of achieving graduation to middle income status.
Leaders from all over the world have gathered in Istanbul to discuss the new program of action and hope it contains ambitious goals and targets that will allow half the LDC group to be eligible for graduation by the end of the decade.
Timor-Leste’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Zacarias Albano da Costa, spoke at the Least Developed Countries Summit on May 8, and stressed the need for renewed and strengthened partnerships between the Least Developed Countries (LCD) and the international community to reduce poverty and reach the Millennium Development Goals. Minister Zacarias da Costa noted the need to build institutions and capacity within the LDCs as critical to achieving sustainable development including both technical assistance and technology transfer along with financial resources.
Minister da Costa shared Timor-Leste’s experience as a young post-conflict country and its aim to not only welcome development but to take ownership over all mechanisms and programs to ensure that development occurs in line with national priorities. The Minister of Foreign Affairs also stated that ambitious goals and targets should be met with action and additional deliverables and commitments by development partners.
The Timorese Delegation is being led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zacarias Albano da Costa, with participation of the Minister of Tourism, Commerce and Industry, Gil Alves, along with a team from the Permanent Mission in New York to the United Nations and Foreign Ministry staff and representatives of the Chamber of Commerce.