“There is press freedom in Timor-Leste since the State does not intervene in media services”, said Avelino Coelho, Secretary of State for Energy Policy, when closing the workshop for editors and journalists, on February 22, at the Excelsior Hotel Resort in Dili.

Avelino Coelho also added that “this three-day workshop helped to raise the capacity and enhance the experience of journalists, promoting the process of national development.”

The Director-General of the Secretariat of State of Council of Ministers (SoSCM), Victor Maia, thanked the participation and dedication of journalists in this workshop which enabled them to acquire knowledge, provided by national and international speakers (Indonesia and Philippines), which can help in their daily professional lives as journalists and editors.

Closing the workshop, the former Chairman of the Indonesian Press Council, Atmakusuma Atraatmadja, representing the international speakers, stated that he “had a very interesting discussion with journalists in Timor. The problems and challenges that journalists face in Timor-Leste are no different from those that we face in Indonesia.  So we took the experiences we shared during three days of workshops to contribute to a better performance of journalists”.

José Francisco Efi, who represented the Community Radios, thank SoSCM” because provided the increase capacity of journalists through the material presented by national and international speakers. In addition, we ask the Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers to facilitate as soon as possible, the creation of the Press Law and the establishment of the Press Council of Timor-Leste to facilitate the resolution of the problems faced by journalists”.

Domingos Saldanha, from the newspaper Suara Timor Lorosae, represented the journalists and said that “learning must not be measured by time, age or knowledge but by the will to learn, and learning has no limits. We therefore ask the Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers to conduct this workshop three or four times a year”.

At the closing ceremony were awarded certificates of participation to 76 journalists and editors.