Minister Bendito Freitas and President Camões begin negotiations on new cooperation plan between Timor-Leste and Portugal « Government of Timor-Leste

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Bendito dos Santos Freitas, met on May 8, 2024, with Camões and the director of the Institute of Intellectual Property Cooperation and Languages, Ana Paula Fernández, to start negotiations on the Strategic Cooperation Program (PEC) between Timor-Leste and Portugal for the period 2024-2028.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed priority strategic areas of bilateral cooperation within the new Pacific Economic Cooperation framework and reiterated the importance of expanding existing cooperation projects and incorporating new areas of activity.

This preparatory meeting follows separate meetings between the Camões Mission and the ministries, where sectoral political discussions will be deepened.

The President of the Camões Intellectual Property Office also presented the statistical data of the PEC for 2019-2023 to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the RDTL, sharing the conclusions and recommendations of the respective evaluation reports.

Also present at the meeting were Manuela Bairos, Ambassador of Portugal in Dili, Ricardo Vitória, Vice President of the Camões Academy of Cooperation and Languages, Intellectual Property, Cristina Faustino, Cooperation Attaché at the Embassy of Portugal in Dili, and their respective technical teams for the PEC negotiations.