Dili, 9 October 2018: H.E the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Taur Matan Ruak, on Monday received a courtesy call from the Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (SENEC), Teresa Ribeiro, at the Government Palace, Dili.

The meeting of the Head of Government and Secretary of State Teresa Ribeiro, who was accompanied by the Minister of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Agio Pereira, and the Ambassador Portugal in Timor-Leste, spoke about the cooperation of the two countries and, in particular, Portuguese language cooperation.

“My meeting with Mr. Prime Minister was an excellent opportunity for us to consolidate the relationship between the two countries. We all know that we have an excellent relationship. In particular, of the Portuguese language cooperation. We know that Timor wants Portugal to bring a consistent innovation in the Portuguese language. Portugal is naturally available to assist. The Portuguese language was in the past a resistance language, and today is an independence language for regional affirmation and integration in a global scale“, said Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

The visit of the SENEC, Teresa Ribeiro in Díli, was meant negotiate Portugal’s new Strategic Cooperation Program (PEC) with Timor-Leste for the period 2018-2022, which will replace former agreement which ended in late 2017 and was extended due to the political situation in Timor-Leste, as the country had early elections. END