RESTRICTED  
  
JOB/ACC/TLS/9  
 
21 April 2023  
(23-2893) Page: 1/4 
Working Party on the Accession of Timor -Leste  Original: English  
 
 
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  
5th meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of Timor -Leste  
Thursday, 20 April 2023, 10:00 am  
1. First, I would like to thank the WTO Secretariat and the Chair for the warm reception given 
again to me and my team to Geneva and for the sustained dedication given to Timor -Leste during 
this process.  I would a lso like to thank all Members of the Working Party for your support and the 
combined work that made possible for us to be here today.  
2. I am honoured to be here to move forward in the work we started almost seven years ago. 
I am confident that you will agre e with me if I say that we are in the very final stretch for Timor -Leste 
to become a Member of the World Trade Organization.  
3. We also acknowledge that, when it happens, the accession of Timor -Leste will only be the 
beginning of a new and a challenging chap ter. We need to be humble and aware of our limitations 
as well as of the enormous tasks that lay ahead, not only as a Member of the WTO but also as a 
prospective member of ASEAN.  
4. I would like to emphasize that we come to this 5th Working Party meeting with  the purpose of 
letting this process close to an end. I am confident that our efforts and our openness to the requests 
from Members will allow us to unbracket most commitments in the Draft Report of the Working 
Party.  
5. As you know, since Timor -Leste started  down this road, we have worked relentlessly, and our 
commitments have been reflected in our actions. We have engaged with Members bilaterally and 
multilaterally, answering their questions and accommodating their requests. We have worked 
together with all of you, and we have made a tremendous effort to adapt and even to be creative to 
keep Timor -Leste in the fast -accession track.  
6. I am confident that the Working Party will be in a position to adopt our final Accession Package 
very soon.  
7. Today, we will discuss our progress since the last Working Party meeting on our developments 
in the multilateral, bilateral and legislative fronts.  
8. We are proud to show the effort made to honour our commitments and how determined we 
are with becoming a Member of the WTO as indicated in our roadmap.  
9. Last year, we circulated our revised offers on market access for goods and services.  
10. As you all know, the average bound tariff rate in our revised goods offer is 11.4%. This is the 
lowest average bound rate amo ng LDC Members, and only 27 WTO Members – non-LDCs – have 
lower average bound rates. At the same time, this number is expected to be lower as the result of 
the bilateral negotiations between Timor -Leste and interested Members.  JOB/ACC/TLS/9  
 
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  11. In the services offer, we ha ve committed in a substantial number of services 
sectors/subsectors : 11 sectors and 88 subsectors as compared to 32 subsectors in our initial offer, 
reaching the total average of all acceded LDCs subsectors commitment s.  
12. We are conscious that we have committed to some sectors that are yet to be regulated in the 
country. We  have done it to accommodate requests from Members , and we are  always trying to find 
the right balance between opening our services market and protecting our national interests. Also, 
in response to Members ' requests, we have  revised our Most -Favoured-Nation (MFN)  Exemption List 
in line with our agreed offers to some Members.  
13. I am pleased to report to the Working Party on the substantial progress achieved in our 
bilateral market access negotiations with Members since our last meeting, where we reported the 
signing of bilateral  market access agreements with Australia and New Zealand.  
14. We have signed agreements with Canada and the Philippines earlier this year and, a few weeks 
ago, we signed a bilateral market access agreement with the European Union.  
15. I am gra teful and hono ured to announce you that, after concluding negotiations with Japan, 
we have also been able to formally conclude negotiations with Cambodia and Thailand on the margins 
of this meeting. We plan on signing bilateral agreements with Japan and Ca mbodia within these days 
and with Thailand in the very next future.   
16. I would like to share with the Working Party that we have also been relentlessly working 
together with the United States to conclude negotiations, and I am very pleased to say that, after  a 
very productive meeting yesterday, our negotiations are about to be formally concluded in the next 
days or in the next very few weeks, pending on technical verification from both sides. I would like 
to thank the United States for the dynamic and constru ctive dialogue.   
17. We have intensively engaged with Indonesia, both through virtual means and in person, and 
we are confident that we will be able to reach an agreement with our valued neighbo ur and important 
trade partner very soon.   
18. Thus, I am proud to rep ort to the Working Party that bilateral market access negotiations with 
Members are almost concluded.  
19. Once again, I would like to thank all Members for their constructive and substantive 
involvement. We remain available to meet for the closing discussions  in any format and at any time 
following this meeting to finalize the process.  
20. On the multilateral front, we provided responses to Members' questions and updated our 
inputs for the draft Report of the Working Party prepared by the Secretariat. As reflected  in the draft 
Report of the Working Party, we have undertaken a total of 30 draft commitments, which now include 
a draft commitment to accede to the ITA and ITA -II upon accession. At the same time, we are 
actively working with the United States to revise s pecific wordings in the draft Report of the Working 
Party to accommodate the United States ' suggestions.  
21. We would like to highlight that, despite our current status, Timor -Leste is fully committed to 
go beyond what  is expected from an LDC.  
22. This is reflected in our decision to commit with the Joint Initiative on Services Domestic 
Regulation and in our decision to take part in the ITA and ITA Expansion Agreement. My team is 
working closely with the WTO Secretariat expe rts to soon finalize Timor -Leste 's draft ITA/ITA -II 
schedules and to circulate them to the participants of these Agreements in June.  
23. These decisions are another evidence of Timor -Leste 's willingness to fully engage in the 
multilateral trading system.  
24. My report would be incomplete without an update on where we are on the legislative front. 
Consolidating our legal framework has been a priority pillar of our work in the last months. Since 
the last Working Party meeting, we have continued drafting and adopting  legislation needed for the 
accession and post -accession periods.  JOB/ACC/TLS/9  
 
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  25. While we will provide a detailed report later today, I am particularly pleased to mention that 
we have already put in place most of the committed pieces of legislation. Almost all pending pi eces 
that have not been circulated yet are already drafted and under technical revision in Dili.  
26. We already shared with the Working Party the Decree -Law on Customs Valuation, and we 
have already enacted the two Decree -Laws on SPS (Animal and Plant Quarant ine), to be shared with 
the Working Party soon after this meeting. We are also finalizing the internal discussions regarding 
the WTO Permanent Secretariat.  
27. Regarding the TRIPS -related legislation, even if it goes beyond our initial commitment, we 
have alr eady approved the Copyright Law , and the IP Code is in the pipeline for approval.  
28. The draft of the new Tax Law has been finalized , translated and shared with the Working 
Party.  
29. We are also developing key pieces of legislation which will be essential in o ur post -accession 
phase, including in the areas of investment, trade facilitation, customs, licensing, fiscal reform, 
export promotion, industrial policy, and services.  
30. I would like to extend special thanks to Members and partners who have supported us on  this 
legislative work – we are very grateful, and we continue to count on your assistance in this final 
stretch and in the post -accession phase.  
31. I would also like to mention that we continue to appreciate Members' consideration of our 
specific needs in this process as well as specific transition periods for the implementation of some 
of the future commitments, when and as necessary.  
32. As His Excellency Doctor Ramos -Horta stated in his message, this process is an opportunity 
to accelerate important and nece ssary reforms which are essential to unleash the potential of our 
economy in several sectors.  
33. The accession process to WTO, as well as to ASEAN, aims to transform Timor -Leste in a 
modern and diversified economy which, in turn, will help to achieve our goa l of becoming a growing, 
healthy, and well -educated middle -class Nation in the next decade.  
34. At the same time, quoting on His Excellency 's statement , "today 's meeting reflects an 
important milestone and sturdy commitment from Timor -Leste, with a strong hop e to conclude our 
discussion with Members on the outstanding issues, as we are moving closer to our membership in 
the WTO. " 
35. I hope that my intervention and the discussions here today will confirm that we have managed 
to honour our commitments and that Timo r-Leste is ready to become 165th Member of the 
Organization.  
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  REMARKS BY HON. DR JOSE RAMOS -HORTA,  
PRESIDENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR -LESTE  
5th meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of Timor -Leste  
Thursday, 20 April 2023, 10:00 am  
1. The Democratic Republic of Timor -Leste, the newest country in Asia, is a strong believer in 
integrating its economy in the multilateral trading system as well as regionally. At the WTO, 
Timor -Leste applied for WTO accession in Decem ber 2016. On the multilateral front, including today, 
Timor -Leste has held five cycles of  Working  Party meetings  in just two and a half  years,  register ing 
substantive  advancement of the Timor -Leste 's accession process, both at the multilateral and 
bilatera l front s of the negotiations.  
2. For Timor -Leste,  becoming  a Member  is essential  to unleash  the potential  of our economy in 
several sectors. Trade is an engine for development, and Timor - Leste has a huge potential that is 
yet to be explored. As a full Member, we will be able to diversify our economy, become part of the 
value chain of global economies and bring a bout more cross -border business opportunities. We will 
be able to improve the quality and the wellbeing of our People through improving  our economic  
growth.  Henceforth,  we will be better  suited  to attract foreign  investors  and our companies  will have 
a better opportunity  to grow and expand beyond our borders in a globalized economy.  
3. We recognize that undergoing accession to the WTO as well as our integration effort to ASEAN 
is an opportunity to accelerate important reforms to maximize benefits and ensure that they 
contribute to Timor -Leste's domestic reform and development goals as an LDC, in line with 
Timor -Leste's Strategic Development Plan  (2011 -2030).  We consider  both processes  to be 
intertwined  and key for the success of our vision of Timor -Leste as a modern and diversified economy 
with high -quality infrastructures and a growing, healthy, and well -educated middle class by 2030.  
4. The large number and the swiftness of the reforms that have taken place and are currently 
undergoing are preparing T imor-Leste to accede to multilateral and regional organizations, but they 
are also creating a very modern country with  one of the most developed  legal systems  and functioning  
institutions  in the region.  
5. Thus, Timor -Leste's accession, by itself, has brou ght great benefits for the country,  and we 
expect  that further  benefits  will be seen once Timor -Leste  gains its membership to the Organization.  
6. To conclude my brief remark s, Timor -Leste is fully committed under its capacity as  a Least  
Developed  State  to abide  by the principles,  objectives  and rules of the World Trade Organization 
(WTO) to implement domestic structural, legislative and policy reforms needed to comply with our 
future WTO commitments, defined in accordance with the Marrakesh Agreeme nt. Therefore, I ask 
for Members'  unshaken  support  of Timor -Leste  as during  this process  of being  fully integrated into 
the multilateral trading system.  
7. Today's meeting reflects an important milestone and sturdy commitment from Timor -Leste, 
with a strong hope to conclude our discussion with Members on the  outstanding  issues,  as we are 
moving  closer  to our membership  in the WTO. In  particular,  I wish all the success  to His Excellency  
Eng. Joaquim  Amaral  and his negotiating Team for today's meeting, a nd I continue to applaud 
Timor -Leste's endless and strong commitment thus far in bringing the Nation towards its accession 
to the WTO.  
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