Hotel Ramelau, 02^nd October 2018

H. E. Mr. Jesus L.R. Mateo, Undersecretary of Department of Education of the Philippines

Your Excellency’s the Members of the Governing Board Meeting of the SEAMEO INNOTECH

Your Excellency’s the Members of the VIII Constitutional Government

H.E. The Minister of Education, Youth and Sports of Timor-Leste, Mrs. Dulce de Jesus Soares

Ladies and Gentlemen

Distinguished Guests

I would like to present our warmest welcoming to the Members of the Governing Board of the EAMEO Innotech and to all the international delegations, stakeholders and associated members, who are present to the sixty-second (62^nd) Regional Conference of this inter-governmental organization.

Especially I would like to thank to H. E. the Undersecretary of Department of Education of the Philippines attending as the representative of the President and the Council of Ministers of the Organization, who is honouring us with his presence.

Timor-Leste is one of the eleven member countries of this regional organization since the year of 2006 and is assuming for the first time the important role to organize its annual Governing Board meeting, which assemblies the senior officers from each country, who are responsible for planning initiatives of “cooperation in the region through research, training and knowledge dissemination” to be implemented by the twenty-four regional centre’s distributed throughout the member states.

Timor-Leste does not yet integrate this network of “specialized regional centres of science, education and culture”, but we hope to be able to participate actively in the Innotech (innovation and technology) effort as soon as possible.

For example, the VIII Constitutional Government who recently was sworn in, has the commitment to establish in Aileu’s head of Municipality a modern University City of Aileu and to transform Dili Capital City into a Knowledge and Technology Centre, through a series of new investments, including a modern National Library (funded by a partnership with the oil company ENI, as a social royalty from the gas exploration in Kitak and Bayu Udan platforms) and a new University Campus in Hera, especially dedicated to sciences and engineer studies.

We will link this Knowledge and Technology Centre to an innovation and technology network, building for this effect Municipal Cultural Centres, with modern infrastructures, integrated (with other services) and multifunctional, which will be made available to the various technological, cultural, artistic and sportive expressions of our citizens, especially those younger.

We are also going to promote the liaising of all these new infrastructures, not only at national or inter-municipal levels, but also with the region and the world.

We have ongoing investments for the establishment of the National Optical-fibre linkage, using the electricity transmission lines which will soon interconnect all the education establishments and training centres, to all the government services.

We will soon decide the best investment option to link the submarine cable, that will connect us to the main countries of the region and the world networks of information and new technologies.

Timor-Leste is a young country, with only sixteen years of independence.

We conquered our sovereignty with great human and material sacrifices, which have forced us to start the construction of the State from the ground zero, with a few human resources and with the majority of the infrastructures destroyed.

We have achieved, in the recent years, to overcome considerably this situation through a strong investment in Human Capital.

We have rebuilt schools and training centres, we have created a Human Capital Development Fund, implemented universal 9 years’ basic education, in a compulsory and free of charge manner, and facilitated the access to our citizens to study in different higher general or technical vocational levels.

We have new learning institutes and universities with the objective to train with quality men and women, committed to the development of the persons, organizations and of the country.

Never in our recent foreign occupation history, we have seen investments in so many means and resources to develop our human resources through education and training.

Nevertheless, we cannot stay passive and over satisfied with the achieved results.

We are a promising Country, with great potential for a sustainable development and growth, above the 7% annual rate, as it was recorded till 2016.

We may be a country with low income rates, considered by many as a “third world”, but we have a good conscious that we may and will reach our great national goal to transform Timor-Leste into a middle-high income country, through a “first world” thinking, that shall alter attitudes and behaviours, facing the challenges of a world increasingly globalized, interdependent and competitive.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Distinguished Guests

The world after the second half of the 20^th Century, shortly after the world war two, has entered a stage of profound evolution in the technological field, mainly caused, by the combination between science knowledge with industrial production.

Industrial process started to be planed and implemented in function of new technological knowledge’s, generating an industrial development cycle, actualized in a regular and permanent manner.

The Third Industrial Revolution or Technological and Scientific Revolution has allowed the development of activities in the various industries that are now applying cutting-edge technologies to all the productivity stages.

The production of new technologies, through entrepreneurism, creativity and innovation, is one of the fundaments of our Government Program and constitutes of the most promising branches under global framework.

In a moment that we aim to reduce our excessive dependency towards the Petroleum Fund and that is requested to diversify our sources of non-petroleum income, developing for the effect all the sectors of the economy, we need to take advantage the different opportunities available at various science, education, culture, innovation and technology’s promotion networks, not only at SEAMEO Innotech, but also in all the remaining international and inter-governmental platforms in which Timor-Leste is participating, among ASEAN, among the United Nations Organizations, among the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, and among the nations of Asia-Pacific among others.

We need to take advantage not only of radio, television, telephones, computers, software, chips or circuits that may be available in facebook or the internet social networks, that the majority of our youth already knows, but also to benefit from the dreams that mobilizes the world.

Profiting from the new Industrial Revolution in Robotics and Innotech that is surrounding us, with citizens increasingly capacitated, habilitated, entrepreneurs, creative, innovative and prepared, with adequate knowledge to develop: business in biological and organic agriculture (agribusiness) with high additional value; business in mining and manufacturing industries, in tourism, fisheries, logistics and transports, making possible to take the highest benefit from our natural resources and wealth, therefore increasing income and living conditions of our populations.

These are the votes that I would like to present to the participants of the sixty-second (62^nd) Regional Conference of SEAMEO Innotech, that is now starting its works till the 4^th October.

Votes that we may know together, as a team, through the adequate and integrated share of resources, take advantage of our potential factors into the benefit of our peoples.

For a Rich, Strong and Secure Timor-Leste!

For a prosperous, modern and development Southeast Asia Region!

Thank You for your attention

May God bless us all