The Timorese head of state announced this Thursday that he will travel to Portugal in November, at the invitation of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, where he will participate in the WebSummit, informing the parliament of several visits abroad planned in the coming months.
After visits to Indonesia and Australia, respectively in July and last week, José Ramos-Horta told the deputies this Thursday that he will shortly leave for New York, where he will speak, on the 23rd, at the UN General Assembly.
I will also speak at a special session of the Peacebuilding Commission on September 26. I hope to be back in Timor-Leste on the 28th,” he said.
Almost immediately, he will visit Cambodia, at the invitation of the King – the country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – and noted that the “trusted friend, Prime Minister Hun Sen” “has been a active supporter of Timor-Leste’s accession to the important regional organization”.
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The visit to Phnom Penh “will be an opportunity to explore trade and investment opportunities, particularly in the agricultural sector,” he said in his speech before parliament today at the opening of the fifth and final legislative session of this legislature.
Shortly after the visit to Cambodia, I will pay a state visit to Portugal, at the invitation of our dear friend, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. I will also participate as a keynote speaker at the prestigious Lisbon WebSummit,” he noted.
Ramos-Horta devoted part of his speech to international relations and diplomacy, defending that the positions of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Timorese diplomats require “profound knowledge, intelligence, strategy and experience”.
Diplomacy, as well as defense and security, cannot be left in the hands of the curious and amateurs, it cannot be partisan, it cannot be the object of partisan bargaining,” he said, criticizing the functioning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“It is essential” that the ministry have a leader “with high experience, who is academically qualified, multilingual and who has a deep knowledge of international politics and the world in general.” He will be “a minister who privileges career diplomats and does not make the ministry an offshoot of his political party,” he said.
The head of state said, in this context, that began an “evaluation process of all embassies and ambassadors”analyzing “academic and professional CVs, years of service provision, written and spoken command of official languages and command of at least one language of diplomacy and international trade, English”.
Always on the international front, Ramos-Horta said that an official visit to Singapore is scheduled for December, noting that the country “has been a constant friend and partner” of Timor-Leste and where he intends to “explore more investments” in the country.
Through trade and investment we are broadening and deepening our regional economic integration. Out of necessity, geographic imposition and strategic choice, we continue to explore all avenues of regional economic integration. In early 2023, Timor-Leste will enter the WTO, another natural extension of our country’s regional and global economic integration,” he recalled.
Accessions to ASEAN – also expected to materialize in 2023 – and to the WTO “are driven by Timor-Leste’s own economic interests, such as the internal economic reform process to ensure a healthy environment for foreign investment and national investment. diversification of our economy.
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In the case of ASEAN, he recalled that extensive reviews had already been completed in preparation for accession, covering its three pillars of political, socio-cultural and economic security.
Their reports support our own views and those of United Nations agencies, the Bretton Woods institutions, as well as AfDB foreign missions and Dili, where Timor-Leste has made significant progress since our independence and where we should be welcome to this regional organization as its 11th member,” he said.
“We live in an interconnected world, where the principle of leaving no one behind must be upheld in all development processes. Just as the peace and prosperity of our neighbors benefit us all, conflicts that originate in one country can affect others,” he said.
Source: Observadora
