DILI, 10 november 2023 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste and Australia discussed the possibility of increasing the number of Timorese and integrating hospitality into the Timor-Leste-Australia labor mobility program.
Timor-Leste’s participation in the high-level meeting of The Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), the Minister for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Ágio Pereira, met with Pat Conroy, Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific, to discuss Pat Conroy’s long-standing emotional connection to Timor-Leste as an activist for the Timorese cause during the struggle for national liberation.
“Pat Conroy is the Australian government’s head of the Pacific-Australia Labor Mobility (PALM) program and the seasonal work program, one of the main themes of the meeting was labor mobility and the possibility of increasing the number of Timorese workers participating in this program, as well as the desire to broaden its scope to include technical and skilled areas, such as hospitality,” said Minister Pereira in a statement.
Timor-Leste will be chairing the Council of Ministers of OACPS, of which it is a member, and co-chairing the joint ministerial session between OACPS and the European Union (EU), which will take place in Samoa on november 14 and 15. The information was given by the Secretary General of OACPS, Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, at a meeting with the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Ágio Pereira, on november 8, on the sidelines of the 52nd Meeting of Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum, which took place in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
On this occasion, the new Partnership Agreement between the EU and OACPS will be signed. The Samoa Agreement, as it is called, will succeed the previous Cotonou Agreement. This agreement aims to strengthen cooperation between the EU and OACPS member states, emphasizing priorities such as human rights, democracy, peace, human development, sustainable growth, environmental sustainability, migration and mobility. The agreement consists of a common basis and three regional protocols designed to meet the specific needs of the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions.
Pereira also met with Giorgio Silli, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Government of Italy, where they discussed the bonds of friendship that unite Italy and East Timor and issues related to bilateral cooperation.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Filimeno Martins
