DILI, 03 february 2023 (TATOLI) – The Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Indonesia and Timor-Leste will provide specific training for the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MoFAC).
“We would like to organize training for the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor-Leste. This training would be important to support Timor-Leste’s bid for ASEAN membership,” Bulgarian Ambassador to Timor-Leste Petar Andonov said at the Palace of Government.
He said Bulgaria is willing to share its experience with Timor-Leste in preparing the country to become a full member of ASEAN: “I think we could offer Timor-Leste a lot of our experience. Bulgaria has experience with the negotiations and the application for EU membership.”
Bulgaria will also provide training to the officials of the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs (CMEA) and the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry (MoTTI) to support Timor-Leste’s application to join the WTO.
“I will ask the Bulgarian Minister of Economy to support CMEA and MoTTI officials in preparing for Timor-Leste’s accession to the WTO,” he said.
When asked about the preferable date for the realization of the training, Andonov said that the date will be decided by the Director of the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and the MoFAC’s National Directorate.
“We will have a kick-off meeting very soon to discuss the agenda. This meeting is intended to identify specific training needs,” said Ambassador Andonov.
In addition, he also stressed that it is very important to accelerate bilateral trade between the two countries.
“We are ready to import any specific product from Timor-Leste. At the same time, we also want to export our products to Timor-Leste,” he said.
Diplomatic relations between Timor-Leste and Bulgaria were established on january 21, 2003. This year, both countries mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
