RESTRICTED  
  
JOB/A CC/TLS/5 
4 August  2021 
(21-6077) Page: 1/4 
Working Party on the Accession of Timor -Leste   
 
 
ACCESSION OF TIMOR -LESTE  
OPENING S TATEMENT B Y H.E. MR JOAQUIM AMARAL , 
COORDINATING MINISTER OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS AND CHIEF NEGOTIATOR  ON WTO ACCESSION 
OF TIMOR -LESTE  
 
2nd meeting o f the Working Party on the Accession of Timor-Leste   
Thurs day, 29 July 20 21, 10:00  am 
1. Good morning in Geneva and  good evening in Timor -Leste. First of all, please allow me to 
bring you warm and cordial greetings from t he Government and the people of the Democratic 
Republic of Timor -Leste.  
2. Mr. Chairman , on behalf o f the membe rs of my delegat ion, and on my own beha lf, I wish 
to thank you  and all members of the Working Party  for the warm reception accorded to us here  in 
Timor -Leste and to our Permanent Mission in Geneva. I would also like to express our profound  
gratitude and ap preciation to the WT O Secretariat for provi ding a virtual platform that has made 
this Working Party  meeting possible,  as well as for the ir endless assis tance and support during 
Timor -Leste 's accession process.  
3. Mr. Chairman , we also grea tly appreciate th e presence of all the distinguished partici pants, 
both in person in Geneva and virtually from capitals. Please accept my sincere words of gratitude.  
I am also grateful for the distinguished presence of the members of the Cabinet here in th e capital. 
Our pr esence is also highlighted by Hon. José Ramos -Horta,  Former President and Nobel Peace 
Prize Laureate , and Hon. Estanislau  Da Silva , For mer Prime Minister , State Minister and 
Coordinating Minister for Economic Af fairs and Minister of Agriculture and Fisher ies. 
4. Mr. Chairman , please allow me to start by emphasizing  Timor -Leste 's commitment to WTO 
membership  that is continuously reflected through our strong political will, across all partisan lines, 
to support the implementation of domestic structural, legis lative and policy re forms required  to 
comply with our future WTO commitments, as part of Timor -Leste 's domestic economic and foreign 
trade policy  objectives  enshrined in Timor -Leste's Vision for 2030 . Ever since  obtaining the WTO 
observer status in 2016, w e are convinced that  the accession to the WTO will be the key ingredient 
for achieving Timor -Leste's de velopment goals by enabling us t o diversify economy, to become 
part of value chain s of global economies, bri ng about more cross -border business opportuni ties 
and align legal and regulatory system with international standards and WTO rules. 
Our commitment  to the WTO , that is also matched b y our parallel endeavour on ASEAN 
membership,  has also been precisely articulated  in the 1st Working Party meeting  that took place 
on 1 Octob er 2020 , as well as domestically  in the lead up to the  2nd Working Party meeting that we 
are having today . 
5. On behal f of my Government and my team, please accept our sincere appreciation t o the 
Members of the Working Party for the wi de support that they extended to our accession effort and 
their constructive contributions  to further advancement and expedit ion of  this process , in line with 
the Government's vision to finalize the WTO accessio n as early as possible  in accordance with our  
established indicati ve Accession Roadmap .  JOB/A CC/TLS/5 
 
- 2 - 
 
  6. Mr. Chairman, thank you for  the opportunity  to inform  the distinguished participants on 
the state-of-play and developments since the 1st Working Party meeting.  Following the 1st Working 
Party meeting , Timor -Leste continued to progr ess in its accession by developing and  providing the 
negotiating inputs  requested by Members , including  the initial market access offers on goods and 
services , which were circula ted to the Members of the Working Party  in May -June of this year . 
7. I am plea sed to update that Working Party  that Timor -Leste has i nitiate d bilateral  
consultations on market access  with interested Mem bers based on the circulated offers. 
These  consultatio ns commenced i n the week of 19 July and will continue after the today's meeting . 
I would like to thank Members  – namely, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Indonesia and 
the United States of America  – for th eir requests  for bilaterals  and will be happy  to elaborate on 
this process under the respective agenda  item.  
8. Alongside submissio n of the  market access  offers,  we have  updated a number of 
negotiating inputs, whereby these inputs have been consolidated in the Factual Summary of Points 
Raised docume nt, inter alia : 
• Responses to Members ' additional question s on Timor -Leste 's foreign trade regime ; 
• Questionnaire on Import Licensing procedure s; 
• Action plan for the implementation of the TBT Agreement ; 
• Action plan for the impleme ntation of the SPS Agreement ; 
• Checklist of illustrative SPS issues;  
• Action plan for t he implementation of the TRIPS Agreement ; 
• Domestic support and export subsidies in the agricultural sector ; and 
• Updated Legislati ve Action Plan (LAP) alongside several tra nslations of the newly 
adopt ed legislations . 
9. The submission of these documents once again reflected our robust  dedication to W TO 
accession as a tool for economic reforms and trade integration, despite the continuing struggle 
with the COVID -19 pandemic and the recent  flood that to ok place in April.  
10. Mr. Chairman , distinguished delega tes, having said that, as a least-developed country 
(LDC), we would like to bring to your attention  the continuous challeng es to push for economic 
reforms considering our lack of  human resource and basic infrastructure to attract foreig n direct 
investment and develop domestic production as we are tr ying to diversify our economy beyond the 
petroleum and gas sector. These challenges will continue as the COVID -19 pandemic persists to  
exist, as also currently being faced by all the nations g lobally.  
11. Taking  this opportunity, Timor -Leste recognizes th e critical  role of technical 
assistance -capacity building and donor support in advancing our WTO accession process. We would 
like to expre ss our since re gratitude to Members and international orga nizations that h ave 
provided their assistance to Timor -Leste  to help progressively advance with the accession process. 
At the same time, as the accession negotiations  intensify, Timor -Leste continue s to be ope n to the 
necessary assistance from Members and development partners, to accelerate and bring closer 
Timor -Leste's membership in the WTO.  
12. Mr. Chairman , on this note, allow me to  once again  thank everyone involved in delivering 
this meeting . Pleas e acc ept our highest appreciation and consideration of your warm welco me as 
well as for the encouragements and sup port from Members, Deputy  Director -General  Xiangchen 
Zhang  and the Accession s Division of the WTO Secretariat.  While the recent challenges int ervened 
in the pace of our accession process and r esulted in a slight adjustment of our Accession 
Roadmap, I am confident that , with your support and the commitment  of my Government, we will  
be able to  follow through the revised Roadmap as planned , to meet the target to become a WTO 
Member by the end of n ext year.  We will wo rk hard to make this happen.   
_______________   JOB/A CC/TLS/5 
 
- 3 - 
 
  REMARKS  BY HON. JOSE RAMOS -HORTA , 
FORMER P RESIDENT OF T HE DEMOC RATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR -LESTE AND N OBEL PEACE PRIZE 
LAUREATE  
2nd meetin g of the Working Party Meeting of the Accession of Timor-Leste   
Thursday, 29 July 20 21, 10:00  am 
1. I thank Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs and Chief Negotiator  on WTO Accession 
of Timor -Leste , H.E. Mr Joaquim Amara l for the gracious  invitation  extended to me  to participate in 
this very important meeting . Congratulati ons must be registered on the active leadership you have 
provided to your very able team of experts. Allow me to extend warmest  greetin gs to t he 
Chair person of the Working Party, Ambassador Rui Macieira; representatives of the WTO Member  
states  and Observe r government s; the very able  WTO Secretariat;  and the  Ministers and member s 
of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Timor -Leste's Access ion to the WTO.  
2. It is obvious that in this increasingly complex world of interconnectedness and 
interdependency , and of challenges, risks and opportunities , multilateralism, regional integration 
and cooperation and a rules-based world order are sine qua non  conditi ons for peace, security and 
prosperity for all. Together  we can prevail, divided we fail . COVID -19 and the g lobal economic 
recession confirm  this old well-known  wisdom.  
3. From the very beginning of our independence, leaders of all  generations a nd convic tions 
have pursued an active foreign policy of developing fraternal relations with all our neighbours and 
all other countries in the world: East and West, North and South.  
4. WTO membership is part and parcel of our formal commitmen t to a rules-based world  
order. We continue our national efforts to improve the country's  infrastructure  and human capital 
and to pu rsue domestic  legislative reform , to accelerate growth and economic diversification . 
Timor -Leste 's commitment is being put t o test  during these very difficult time s when  we all , 
members of  the international community  are struggling with the C OVID -19 pandem ic and the 
catastroph ic economic and social fallout . We in Timor -Leste, with  the generous support from our 
international  partners, have  so far be en able to spare our people  the worst .    
5. WTO accession is as important  to us as our accession  to ASEAN . Attainment  of these twin 
goals enjoy s solid national consensus  and commitment. This means , there may be chang es in 
leaders hip within the G overnment  and the country , as part of normal democratic cycle s. But the 
State is permanent. And it means that both member ship in ASEAN and the WTO remain  national 
strategic priorit ies. 
6. In the short li fe of our country as a sovereig n nation and a stat e, we have  shown that we 
have the capacity and the commitment to engage and sometime s lead in a number of international 
bodies, namely: as an active member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries 
(CPLP) ; the g7+ association of conflict -affected a nd fragile  states ; the African, Caribbean and 
Pacific Group of States  (ACP) ; the ASE AN Regional Forum (ARF) , in addition to our active  
partnership with the Bretton Woods institutions and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) . I wish to 
recall  that according to the  OECD report of September 2020 , Timor -Leste graduated from the 
category of  fragile state s. It is a recognition of Timor -Leste as a post -conflict state  on the road to 
recovery and development . 
7. We reaffirm Timor -Leste 's liberal marke t and a stable s tate, where Timor -Leste is fully 
committed to abide by the principles, objectives and rules of the WTO, with all of our capacit y as a 
least-developed country  (LDC), and to implement domestic structural, legislative and policy 
reforms requir ed to comply wit h WTO comm itments .  JOB/A CC/TLS/5 
 
- 4 - 
 
  8. In closing, I wish to state that I truly believe tha t because of the synergies and the 
excellent relation ship developed between the leaders and officials  of Timor -Leste and our WTO 
partners, this meeting will bear fru itful outcomes that will further advance Timor -Leste's WTO 
accession.  
9. Last but not least , I plead with Members of the Working Party and the development 
partners to please co ntinue  provid ing technical assistance during this critical period  to Timor -Leste  
as an LDC t hat still lacks adequate human resources capacity  and basic infrastructure , and to 
address the domestic legislative reform and acce lerate growth and economic diversification . 
 
__________