DILI, 10 March 2026 (TATOLI) – The Australian Government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), has provided support in the form of two vehicles to the Government of Timor-Leste through SEFOPE (Secretariat of State for Professional Formation and Employment). The vehicles provided are one Toyota Land Cruiser Prado and one Toyota Hilux.
The vehicle handover ceremony was conducted by the First Secretary of the Australian Embassy in Timor-Leste, Kalo Tafalo, accompanied by the Second Secretary, Declan Hickey, to H.E. the Secretary of State for Professional Formation and Employment, Rogério Araújo Mendonça, at the SEFOPE compound in Kaikoli.
After the vehicle handover, the Secretary of State expressed his gratitude and stated that the cooperation between the two governments is part of the Australian Government’s support for the Government of Timor-Leste in various aspects, particularly for labor mobility.
“Today is a very important moment, which reflects the strong cooperation between the Australian Government and Timor-Leste through the Secretariat of State for Professional Formation and Employment, on the matter of labor mobility to Australia,” said the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State explained that the support offered by the Australian Government greatly assists SEFOPE in carrying out its labor mobility work effectively.
“As we all know, our labor mobility program is now decentralized across all municipalities. The participant recruitment process, as well as the training to update participants’ profiles, are now carried out in all municipalities. Therefore, for us to be able to monitor these activities in the municipalities, we need transportation support. This is precisely why the Australian Government is supporting us with these two vehicles,” stated the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State further added that the two vehicles received by SEFOPE today will be used to further enable monitoring and operational activities at the grassroots level. The main objective is to ensure greater success for the Australian labor mobility program that has now expanded to all municipalities.
“The two vehicles that SEFOPE received today will be used to help further enable monitoring and operational activities at the grassroots level, in order to guarantee greater success for the Australian labor mobility program that has expanded to all municipalities,” said the Secretary of State.
Specific Allocation of the Vehicles
Specifically regarding the two vehicles:One vehicle is assigned to the Office of the Secretary of State for use during monitoring trips to the municipalities. This monitoring includes visits to English language training centers that prepare young people before they go to work in Australia. The other vehicle will be used for SEFOPE’s daily operational services, such as transporting teams for activities in Dili and the municipalities.
Present at the handover ceremony for these two vehicles were the Director-General of SEFOPE, the Chief of Staff, the Manager of PLMSP (Australia’s Pacific Labour Mobility Support Program), the National Directors, and SEFOPE staff members.
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