On 1 February 2013 at the Conference Hall of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in Dili, the Government of Timor-Leste, represented by the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Alfredo Pires, and Thailand, represented by the Minister of Energy, Pongsak Ruktapongpisal, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the Oil Sector and related industries.

Cooperation between the two countries is based mainly on sharing of information on oil policy, organisation and functioning of oil-related institutions, business opportunities in the oil sector and preparation of laws and regulations for such activities.

On the other hand, this Memorandum of Understanding also provides for specialised training for professionals from oil industries and related fields, such as exploitation and use of natural gas, refined oil products, as well as for any other areas of mutual agreement by both countries.

In this area, the Memorandum involved TIMOR GAP, represented by its President Francisco Monteiro, as well as PTT International, through its Executive Vice-President Peerachat Pinprayong, and PTT Public Company, through its Senior Executive Vice-President Sarakorn Kulatham.

For Alfredo Pires, “it is important to be able to count on the support from countries like Thailand considering its huge experience in this area. The Memorandum of Understanding also provides for an important role to be played in the development of human resources”, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources of Timor-Leste guaranteed.

In attendance were the Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament, Adriano do Nascimento, the Deputy Prime Minister, Fernando La Sama de Araújo, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, José Luís Guterres, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Constâncio da Conceição Pinto, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand in Timor-Leste, Tawatchai Koopirom.