Prime Minister concludes Working Visit to the United Kingdom, Portugal and Indonesia
Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and
Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste
Díli, February 14, 2014
Prime Minister concludes Working Visit to the United Kingdom, Portugal and Indonesia
The Prime Minister, H.E. Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, has returned from a working visit to the United Kingdom, Portugal and Indonesia.
The Prime Minister along with the Minister of State and Presidency of the Council of Ministers, H.E. Agio Pereira, the Minister of Finance, H.E. Emilia Pires, and the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, H.E. Alfredo Pires, began the visit to the United Kingdom by meeting Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, Professor of International Law, at Cambridge University. Sir Elihu recently represented Timor-Leste at the International Court of Justice and is an important part of the team preparing for the Timor Sea Treaty Arbitration taking place this year. Additional briefings were undertaken with other members of Timor-Leste’s legal team based in London.
A highlight of the trip to London was the official opening of the Timor-Leste Embassy to the United Kingdom. A reception was hosted on the 3rd of February by Prime Minister Gusmão and Ambassador Joaquim Fonseca at the new Embassy premises at 4 Cavendish Square, London. In attendance were several Ambassadors, High Commissioners, friends of Timor-Leste and members of the Timorese Community in the United Kingdom. The Embassy will promote the interests of Timor-Leste in the UK, facilitate tourism and investment, and serve several thousand Timorese citizens who are currently living and working in the United Kingdom.
In UK the Prime Minister also took the opportunity to meet with some of the nations top business leaders over a lunch at Asia House. Participants were keen to hear an update on the state of the nation and to discuss potential avenues for investment and business enterprise in Timor-Leste.
On his final day in London the Prime Minister along with the Government Ministers, visited members of parliament in the House of Commons at Westminster. The Honorable Ann Clywd MP had invited the delegation with a view to updating the Parliamentary Members and Senior Government Officials on progress in Timor-Leste and seeking out possibilities for support and cooperation.
The Prime Minister flew to Portugal on the 4th of February where his delegation included the Minister for Justice, H.E. Dionísio Babo Soares, Secretary of State for Defense, H.E. Júlio Tomás Pinto and the Counsellor Judge of the Court of Appeal and Vice-President of the Superior Council, the Honorable Natércia Gusmão.
His visit here began with meeting Portugal’s Minister of Internal Affairs, H.E. Miguel Macedo, where the details of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Migration Services of RDTL and the Foreigners and Borders Department of Portugal were finalized. The Memorandum was subsequently signed on the 7th of February and will promote the development of cooperation at operational and technical levels in matters of migration management and border control.
The Prime Minister of Portugal H.E. Pedro Passos Coelho, warmly welcomed his counterpart in São Bento. In the friendly meeting that followed they discussed the growth of the Nation, Timor-Leste in an international context and the bilateral relations. In the Press Conference which followed Prime Minister Coelho reiterated the support of Portugal to Timor-Leste in various areas of cooperation and noted the role of Timor-Leste as President of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP). He noted that he had accepted Prime Minister Gusmão’s invitation to attend the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the CPLP to be held in July in Dili.
Other engagements included a bilateral meeting with Portugal’s Minister for National Defence, H.E. José Pedro Aguiar-Branco. Prime Minister Gusmão, who is also Timor-Leste’s Minister for Defence and Security, together with Minister Aguiar-Branco signed the “Framework for Military–Technical Portuguese–Timorese Cooperation for 2014-2016”. This agreement focuses on training, language and the further development of Timor-Leste’s naval component. A subsequent bilateral was held with Portuguese Minister of Justice, H.E. Paula Teixeira da Cruz, and on this occasion Timor-Leste’s Minister of Justice H.E. Dionísio Babo Soares signed a General Protocol for Cooperation in the Area of Justice with his counterpart.
As Timor-Leste is to take over the rotating Presidency of the CPLP this year a priority of the trip was to visit the headquarters of the CPLP and meet with the Special Committee of Permanent Coordination which included Executive Secretary Ambassador Murade Isaac Murargy and other Ambassadors of the member states. This meeting was followed by the launch of the book “Xanana Gusmão and the first 10 years of Timorese Statebuilding” presented by Bishop Ximenes Belo and Rui Marques.
On the last day of the trip to Portugal the Prime Minister was received by the President of the Portuguese Republic, H.E. Cavaco Silva, and also received a doctorate “Honoris Causa” from the Institute of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Through the granting of the doctorate the University recognized the essential role of Xanana Gusmão in the process of independence, and the consolidation and development of the State of Timor-Leste. The doctorate covered the relevant areas of Political Science, Strategy, Public Administration and International Relations.
The Prime Minister returned to Dili on the 11th of February, having travelled through Indonesia for further meetings.
Spokesperson for the Fifth Constitutional Government, Minister of State Agio Pereira noted “this trip, which included a demanding schedule for the Prime Minister, was highly productive in promoting the interests of Timor-Leste, strengthening bilateral ties and building important people to people relationships.”
To view the photos of this Working Visit, please click here.
