DILI, 20 february 2024 (TATOLI) – The Counsellor of the French Embassy, Laurent Legodec, met with the Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gumsmão, to discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations between France and Timor-Leste.
During the meeting, Legodec expressed France’s commitment to supporting Timor-Leste’s national development.
“We discussed the current situation of Timor-Leste and the priorities for the development of the country. We also discussed the relations between France and Timor-Leste, and to see how France can help support the development of Timor-Leste,” Legodec said after meeting Prime Minister Gusmão at the Palace of Government, in Dili.
He said that France wanted to have strong and steady relations with Timor-Leste: “Once again, we want to be supportive of the development of the economy and Society of Timor-Leste.”
“So far, we have tried to provide support in some very specific areas that are important for the development of the country. For example, we have some projects for training civil servants, especially women that we are proud of. We are also developing some projects in the agroecology field,” he said.
France also wanted to launch some French courses for the diplomats of Timor-Leste. This is a new project that we are launching. We want to help support the diversification of the economy of the country and maybe bring some technical expertise, for example, the development of the port activity.
“Our democratic nations need to be united and stand firm together to reaffirm the defense the need for us to defend and promote these rules-based orders. In this, we France, we believe that it is important for us to have a partner like Timor-Leste, especially in this region of the indo-pacific where we have national interests and also national citizens living in different parts of the indo-pacific,” added Legodec.
Timor-Leste and France share the same values, democratic values, and supporters of the multilateral system of the rules-based international order.
Journalist: Jose Belarmino de Sa
Editor: Filomen Martins.
