DILI, 29 august 2024 (TATOLI) – Malaysian Vice Prime Minister, Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, reaffirmed the Malaysian government’s intention to support the development of human resources (HR) in Timor-Leste.
Seri Ahmad conveyed this statement after attending an official meeting with Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão at the government office on Thursday.
“We have discussed several aspects of cooperation, regarding bilateral relations between Timor-Leste and Malaysia. We express our gratitude to the Timor-Leste Government for providing 6,000 square meters of land to the Malaysian government to build the Malaysian Embassy building in Dili,” Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister said.
In their meeting, the two also discussed trade and investment, where Malaysia is ready to provide full support, because by joining Timor-Leste in the World Trade Organization (WTO), it is hoped that it will make it easier for Timor-Leste to expand its trade business throughout the world.
He emphasized that Malaysia, through the University of Kuala Lumpur, has provided 50 scholarships for students from Timor-Leste to continue their studies at the S2 (master) and S3 (doctoral) levels as part of increasing capacity and education.
“Malaysia is ready to help Timor-Leste. We also talk about capacity building and education. We offer 50 places for students from Timor-Leste to study S2 (master) and S3 (doctoral) at the University of Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
“Likewise, we offer to get training for TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training), where in Malaysia there are 1345 TVET institutes, and we offer this to students from Timor-Leste,” he said.
In addition, specifically for rural development, Malaysia is ready to invite village heads to enter leadership institutions in Malaysia that aim to advance rural areas in existing systems and ecosystems.
To advance the tourism sector, he hopes to be able to discuss with the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTK-tetun) in Timor-Leste to reactivate Kuala Lumpur and Dili flights so that it can increase the number of tourists.
“Malaysia also strongly supports Timor-Leste to become a full member of ASEAN, and we will help Timor-Leste to meet the requirements to be facilitated for membership as a full member of ASEAN,” he requested.
The Prime Minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, was pleased to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia who was present in Timor-Leste to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the referendum on august 30.
“We are pleased to welcome the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia to participate in the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the referendum. Therefore, today we are here to discuss cooperation between Malaysia and Timor-Leste, especially in the fields of human resources and health; they are ready to help us build our country,” he said.
On the same day, Malaysian Vice Prime Minister Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also met with Vice Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs and Minister for Housing, Community, and Rural Development Mariano Assanami Sabino to discuss the rural social, health, and education sectors.
During the period the period in Timor-Leste, three Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) had been signed aiming to enhance the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The signing of three MoUs is a Memorandum of Understanding between Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) and Human Capital Development Fund Timo-Leste (FDCH), a Memorandum of Understanding between University Malaysia Sabah and National University of Timor Loro Sa’e (UNTL), and a Letter of Intent for Cooperation between University Technical Mara SDN, BHD, UniKL, and the Institute of Business (IOB) Timor-Leste.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Rafael Ximenes de A. Belo
