DILI, april 26, 2023 (TATOLI)—Timor Leste (TL) signed bilateral negotiations on goods and services with Japan and Cambodia in the process of Timor-Leste’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the Fifth Summit (Working Party) Meeting-WPM) in the Geneva, Switzerland.
The statement seen by Tatoli said Timor-Leste has completed bilateral negotiations with Thailand. In addition, TL still has to complete negotiations with Indonesia and the United States to be able to conclude negotiations in a bilateral context, according to the indicative accession map.
“The Summit meeting was a multilateral negotiation with 164 WTO members. Through this multilateral meeting, WTO members re-examined TL preparations for WTO in the field of goods and services, legislative planning, and all of its accessions,” wrote the statement.
Timor-Leste’s Government represented by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy (CMoEA), and currently the TL Chief Negotiator for TL’s accession to OPD, Joaquim Amaral, together with his team from the relevant ministries attended the meeting.
“During the visit, the TL delegation together with other delegations held a meeting with development partners in Geneva, to convey technical assistance plans to help the process of accession of the two countries,” The statement said.
Meanwhile, TL also received positive confirmation from development partners to work together in the future, in the TL economic sector.
During the visit, the Chief Negotiator for TL also had meetings with the Director General for OPD, the Minister of Foreign Negotiations for Portugal, the Australian Ambassador in Geneva, the US Ambassador, and other officials regarding the process of TL’s accession to OPD.
Journalist: Mirandolina Barros Soares
Editor: Armandina Moniz
Translation: Camilo de Sousa
