On May 23rd, 2012, the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, accompanied by Vice Prime Minister, José Luis Guterres, was visited by his counterpart, Prime Minister of São Tomé e Príncipe, at the Government Palace, in Dili. The visit aimed at strengthening the bilateral ties of cooperation between the two nations.

According to the Vice Prime Minister, José Luís Guterres, the Prime Minister of São Tomé e Príncipe came to discuss cooperation issues in the oil industry, agriculture and professional training. “The Government of São Tomé e Príncipe was informed that the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the national oil company (Timor Gap, Oil and Gas), are two well organized institutions, and Timor-Leste is a country abiding to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe met with the President of the National Petroleum Authority to obtain information about the mechanisms used by East Timor. He also held a meeting with the President of Timor Gap to learn about our country’s experience”, José Luís Guterres said.

The Prime Minister of São Tomé e Príncipe, Patrice Emercy Trovoada considered the meeting to have been a positive one, and advanced that there were exchanged views on development projects, in both countries. “The main conclusion we have reached, during this meeting, is that we need to initiate permanent contacts between our two nations. We might be far away, but we have a common history, we shared the same culture, and we share similar industrial, agricultural and professional training characteristics.  We also talked about the CPLP and its role in the development of small member countries”. he stated.

The Prime Minister of São Tomé e Príncipe congratulated the people of Timor-Leste for the 10th Anniversary of the Restoration of Independence and said he wanted to strengthen the bonds of cooperation and friendship between the two countries.