Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture
Francisco Kalbuady Lay

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is the central Government body responsible for the design, execution, coordination and assessment of the policy defined and approved by the Council of Ministers for the areas of tourism, arts and culture.

It is the responsibility of the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture to propose policy and develop the projects of regulations necessary for the areas under his supervision; design, execute and evaluate the tourism policy; add to the growth of the tourism sector and suggest measures and public policies for its development; support the activities of economic agents in the tourism sector and facilitate solutions that render licensing procedural requirements simpler and faster; give opinion on requests for information prior to the establishment of tourism businesses; appraise, license projects of facilities and supervise the operation of tourist enterprises; supervise, inspect and monitor recreational games and tourist enterprises, in accordance with the law; maintain and administer an information and documentation centre on businesses and activities in the tourism sector; suspend and revoke licenses for the exercise of tourist activities, in accordance with the law; qualify and classify touristic ventures, under the terms of the applicable legislation; draft the annual plan of promotional activities for the development of tourism with respective cost estimate; implement and execute the legislation relating to the installation, licensing, and verification of the conditions of operation of tourist facilities; establish mechanisms for collaboration with other services and government agencies responsible for related areas, in particular the competent services for planning and physical development of the territory, aiming at the promotion of national strategic areas of development of tourism; cooperate with concerning public bodies and institutes, in promoting and advertising Timor-Leste with investors and tour operators, releasing the necessary information; oversee cultural and touristic events; draft the policy and regulations for the conservation, protection and preservation of the cultural and historical heritage; propose policies for the definition and development of arts and culture; establish policies of cooperation and cultural exchanges with the CPLP countries and cultural organizations, and countries in the region; establish policies of cooperation with UNESCO; promote the creation of the National Library and the National Museum; develop programs to introduce artistic education and culture in the education curricula of Timor-Leste, in coordination with the Ministry of Education; promote the creative industries and artistic creation in Timor-Leste, in its several areas; ensure the adequate preservation of official and historical documents; promote the creation of the Academy of Arts and Cultural Creative Industries of Timor-Leste; protect the rights pertaining to artistic and literary creation.

The Convention Centre of Dili-CCD, the Catering Squares/Food Courts (Metiaut), the Centres of Tourism and Tourist Information, the Implementation Unit of the Academy of Arts, Culture and Creative Industries and the Monitoring Committee of the Academy of Arts, Culture and Creative Industries are supervised by the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.