Declaração de Díli.

X CONFERÊNCIA DE CHEFES DE ESTADO E DE GOVERNO DA COMUNIDADE DOS PAÍSES DE LÍNGUA PORTUGUESA
Díli, 23 de julho de 2014

DECLARAÇÃO DE DÍLI

1. Os Chefes de Estado e de Governo da República de Angola, da República Federativa do Brasil, da República de Cabo Verde, da República da Guiné-Bissau, da República de Moçambique, da República Portuguesa, da República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe e da República Democrática de Timor-Leste, ou seus representantes, reuniram-se na X Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP) em Díli, no dia 23 de julho de 2014.

2. Elegeram Sua Excelência o Senhor Taur Matan Ruak, Presidente da República Democrática de Timor-Leste, como Presidente da Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da CPLP, para os próximos dois anos.

3. Reafirmaram a plena validade do compromisso histórico consagrado na Declaração Constitutiva da CPLP, com a progressiva afirmação internacional do conjunto dos Estados membros, que constitui um espaço geograficamente descontínuo, mas identificado pelo idioma comum, e pelos primados da paz, da democracia, do Estado de direito, dos direitos humanos e da justiça social.

4. Tomaram nota, com satisfação, das medidas e atividades levadas a cabo desde a IX Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da CPLP, realizada em Maputo, a 20 de julho de 2012, para a concretização dos objetivos da Comunidade, o compromisso de reforçar os laços de solidariedade e de cooperação, que unem os Estados membros, na promoção do desenvolvimento económico e social dos seus Povos e na afirmação e divulgação da Língua Portuguesa.

5. Congratularam-se com a escolha de “A CPLP e a Globalização” como tema da X Conferência dos Chefes de Estado e de Governo, e reconheceram a necessidade de dotar a CPLP de uma estratégia sobre a cooperação económica e empresarial e identificar possíveis mecanismos para o apoio ao investimento e negócios no espaço comunitário, com vista a dinamizar a inserção da CPLP no contexto da Globalização, onde se insere a Língua Portuguesa;

6. Aprovaram a adesão da Guiné Equatorial como Estado membro da CPLP, reiterando o empenho da Comunidade em continuar a apoiar as autoridades do país no pleno cumprimento das disposições estatutárias da CPLP, no que respeita à adoção e utilização efetiva da Língua Portuguesa, à adoção da moratória da pena de morte, até à sua abolição, e demais acervo da CPLP no respetivo ordenamento interno da Guiné Equatorial.

7. Aprovaram a Resolução sobre a concessão da categoria de Observador Associado da CPLP à Geórgia, à República da Namíbia, à República da Turquia e ao Japão, o que em muito prestigia a CPLP, pela projeção e visibilidade política internacional que trarão à Comunidade como parceira global.

8. No âmbito da concertação política e diplomática:

i) Destacaram o acompanhamento regular, pela CPLP da situação interna da Guiné-Bissau, com vista à normalização política, institucional e social do país.

Congratularam-se com a realização das eleições na Guiné-Bissau, que permitiram a reposição da ordem constitucional, interrompida pelo golpe de Estado de 12 de abril de 2012, a criação de condições necessárias para responder aos desafios de estabilidade política, da consolidação do Estado de Direito democrático e da promoção do desenvolvimento.

Saudaram a participação serena, cívica e ordeira do povo da Guiné-Bissau, das forças políticas e dos candidatos eleitorais, bem como a participação massiva da juventude e das mulheres, nas eleições gerais de 13 de abril e na segunda volta das eleições presidenciais de 18 de maio de 2014 e manifestaram satisfação pela contribuição da Missão de Observação Eleitoral da CPLP no acompanhamento do pleito.

Exortaram as autoridades eleitas, as forças políticas e o conjunto da sociedade guineense ao diálogo, encorajaram a participação ativa dos cidadãos no processo de normalização da vida económica, política e social do país, com vista a promover a coesão e unidade nacional, essenciais para a estabilidade e progresso económico e social da Guiné-Bissau.

Tomaram nota do Programa de Urgência do Governo guineense, que visa a mobilização de assistência internacional para fazer face aos desafios sociais e económicos prementes, de modo a garantir o funcionamento normal das instituições do Estado, a estabilidade social, a revitalização da economia e a legitimidade social da governação.

Recomendaram a promoção, sob a égide das Nações Unidas, de uma concertação estreita com a CEDEAO e outros parceiros internacionais, nomeadamente, a União Africana e a União Europeia, com vista a concertar as ações de assistência ao país e ao estabelecimento de parcerias que contribuam, de forma efetiva, para a da estabilidade na Guiné-Bissau.

Saudaram a designação do Dr. Carlos de Alves Moura, Representante Especial da CPLP para acompanhar, no terreno, a evolução da situação no país até à conclusão do processo eleitoral, e manifestaram o seu apreço pela dedicação, zelo e determinação com que desempenho a sua missão.

Destacaram o importante papel de três ilustres representantes nacionais da Comunidade no sentido da plena reposição da ordem constitucional no país: Dr. Carlos Moura, Representante Especial da CPLP; Embaixador Ovídeo Pequeno, Representante da União Africana; e, Dr. José Ramos-Horta, Representante Especial do Secretário Geral das Nações Unidas.

Considerando a necessidade de acompanhamento do período pós eleitoral no país, e da promoção da articulação com outras organizações parceiras nomeadamente as Nações Unidas, a União Africana, a CEDEAO e a União Europeia, decidiram a prorrogação do mandato do Representante Especial da CPLP por seis meses. Durante esse período será decidida a modalidade da presença da CPLP na Guiné-Bissau.

Recomendaram ao Secretariado Executivo e ao Representante Especial da CPLP em Bissau, o acompanhamento regular da situação interna na Guiné-Bissau e a manutenção de um quadro de concertação e interação com o Governo e os parceiros internacionais e regionais sobre a assistência internacional ao processo de normalização política e institucional do país;

Saudaram a assistência financeira e técnica de Timor-Leste ao processo eleitoral na Guiné-Bissau, que permitiu a criação de condições para que o recenseamento eleitoral e as eleições gerais decorresssem de forma democrática, livre e transparente, bem como a instalação de uma Agência de Cooperação para apoio a programas e projetos bilaterais;

ii) Reconheceram os esforços do Governo de Timor-Leste na prossecução dos objectivos do Memorando de Entendimento sobre o estabelecimento da Representação Permanente da CPLP em Díli e congratularam-se com a iminente conclusão da construção do edifício.

Neste contexto, e cientes da premência de que a Representação possa estar em funcionamento o quanto antes, para apoio ao exercício da presidência da CPLP por Timor-Leste, no biénio 2014-2016, reconheceram a importância da contribuição dos Governos dos Estados membros para o Fundo Especial, por forma a permitir o início da atividade da Representação;

iii) Destacaram a realização de eleições regulares nos Estados membros e a legitimidade democrática que daí decorre, elemento essencial de afirmação dos direitos do homem e do cidadão, para a preservação de instituições democráticas e representativas e para o reforço do Estado de direito.

Saudaram, assim, o papel da CPLP e dos seus Estados membros na observação de eleições gerais em Angola (agosto de 2012) e Guiné-Bissau (abril e maio de 2014);

iv) Reiteraram a necessidade de avançar com a reforma das Nações Unidas, em particular do Conselho de Segurança, incluindo os seus métodos de trabalho, de forma a torná-lo mais representativo, transparente, legítimo e eficaz.

Avaliaram que, decorridos quase 70 anos da criação da Organização e 10 anos sobre a adoção do Documento Final da Cimeira Mundial de 2005, que apelou por uma reforma urgente do Conselho de Segurança, devem ser intensificados os esforços, na próxima Sessão da Assembleia Geral da ONU, com vista a alcançar avanços concretos sobre o tema até 2015.

Reiteraram a sua visão comum de um Conselho de Segurança ampliado nas categorias de membros permanentes e não permanentes.

Reiteraram, ainda, o seu apoio à integração do Brasil no Conselho de Segurança da ONU como membro permanente, recordando os termos do Comunicado Final da II Reunião do Conselho de Ministros (Salvador, 1997), da Declaração de São Tomé e Príncipe (2004), da Declaração de Bissau (2006), da Declaração de Lisboa (2008), da Declaração de Luanda (2010) e da Declaração de Maputo (2012). Reiteraram, igualmente, nesse âmbito, o apoio à pretensão de África em estar representada na categoria de membro permanente do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas;

v) Saudaram a realização da V sessão da Assembleia Parlamentar da CPLP, em Díli, em abril de 2014, e tomaram nota da deliberação que recomenda a alteração dos Estatutos da CPLP, com vista a refletir a natureza e Estatuto da Assembleia Parlamentar como órgão da CPLP, respeitando os princípios que estiveram na base da sua criação;

vi) Recordaram a aprovação, pela XIII Conferência dos Ministros da Justiça dos Países de Língua Oficial Portuguesa, a 29 e 30 de maio de 2013, em Lisboa, da “Declaração de Lisboa sobre Medidas Comuns de Prevenção e de Combate ao Tráfico de Seres Humanos” e da “Declaração de Lisboa sobre Medidas Comuns de Prevenção e Combate à Corrupção de Agentes Públicos nas Transações Comerciais Internacionais”, e respectivos Planos de Ação.

Saudaram, ainda, a deliberação de criação de duas novas Comissões de Trabalho Especializadas, dedicadas, respetivamente, à Proteção Internacional das Crianças no Espaço da CPLP e à elaboração de um Manual Prático para a Aplicação da Convenção Sobre Transferência de Pessoas Condenadas entre os Estados membros da CPLP, as quais iniciaram os seus trabalhos nos dias 2 e 3 de abril de 2014, em Lisboa.

Registaram, também, a realização, a 9 de abril de 2014, em Luanda, da I Reunião de Pontos de Contato da Rede de Cooperação Jurídica e Judiciária Internacional dos Países de Língua Portuguesa e a aprovação da “Declaração de Luanda relativa às Boas Práticas no âmbito da Cooperação Jurídica e Judiciária”;

vii) Tomaram nota da realização da Reunião de Altos Funcionários dos Ministérios do Interior e da Administração Interna da CPLP, em Lisboa, em abril de 2014, onde foi sublinhada a necessidade de um maior compromisso dos Estados membros quanto às questões da mobilidade e circulação no espaço da CPLP, pelo impacto direto no quotidiano dos seus cidadãos e, consequentemente, pelo seu contributo potencial para a interiorização do sentimento de pertença à Comunidade.

Reconheceram que a aplicação dos Acordos de Brasília, de forma faseada e diferenciada pelos Estados membros, vem contribuindo para uma maior circulação dos cidadãos no espaço CPLP.

Recomendaram que as autoridades competentes dos Estados membros avaliem a implementação do Acordo de Visto de Múltiplas Entradas para Determinadas Categorias de Pessoas;

viii) Reafirmaram o compromisso de reforçar o direito humano à alimentação adequada nas políticas nacionais e comunitária, reconhecendo o seu papel na erradicação da fome e da pobreza na CPLP, através da consagração do tema “Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional” nas agendas das presidências da CPLP e das Cimeiras de Chefes de Estado e de Governo até 2025, a necessidade de concretização do Plano de Atividades decorrente da ESAN-CPLP e a implementação destas, nomeadamente a plena consagração do CONSAN-CPLP e o impacto positivo que o lançamento da Campanha Juntos contra a Fome poderá gerar em todos os Estados membros e junto da comunidade internacional.

Destacaram a importância do estabelecimento da "Comunidade de Países de Língua Portuguesa Sem Fome", à luz do acordo de cooperação técnica entre a CPLP e a FAO, no quadro da cooperação para a erradicação da fome e da pobreza nos Estados membros.

Saudaram o conjunto de ações, que têm sido realizadas no âmbito do Ano Internacional da Agricultura Familiar, responsável por elevar o papel da agricultura familiar no combate à fome e à má-nutrição e no desenvolvimento de sistemas alimentares sustentáveis.

Reconheceram a oportunidade de, durante a II Conferência Internacional sobre Nutrição (ICN2), a realizar-se em novembro próximo, em Roma, se consolidar a nutrição como tema permanente na agenda internacional, e como questão pública.

Destacaram, também, o apoio dos países da CPLP às diretrizes implementadas pela atual administração da FAO em prol da erradicação da fome e da pobreza, recomendando a sua continuidade nos próximos anos, de modo a lograr êxito na consolidação de seus objetivos;

ix) Sublinharam a vontade política comum de promover a imagem da CPLP através do endosso de candidaturas dos seus Estados membros a cargos e funções em organizações internacionais, manifestando o endosso da CPLP às seguintes candidaturas, no âmbito do sistema das Nações Unidas: (i) de Angola como membro não permanente do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas, para o biénio de 2015-2016; (ii) de Portugal para o Conselho de Direitos Humanos das Nações Unidas, para o triénio 2015-2017; (iii) do Brasil, para o Conselho Económico e Social (ECOSOC), para o mandato 2015-2017; (iv) do Brasil para o Comité Organizacional da Comissão de Construção da Paz (CO-CCP), para o mandato 2015-2016; (v) do Brasil para a Comissão sobre a Situação da Mulher (CSW), para o mandato 2016-2020; (vi) do Brasil para o Conselho de Direitos Humanos (CDH), para o mandato 2017-2019.

Reiteraram, ainda, o endosso da CPLP à candidatura do Diretor-Geral da FAO, Doutor José Graziano, à reeleição, na disputa a ser realizada, em julho de 2015;

x) Reconheceram os avanços registados no domínio da concertação político- diplomática no setor da energia, nomeadamente no quadro do projeto “Energia da CPLP”, cujos resultados têm permitido o incremento da cooperação e o alargamento do conhecimento mútuo neste domínio;

xi) Congratularam-se com a iniciativa de Timor-Leste para a criação de um Grupo Técnico de estudo, aberto à participação dos Estados membros, para a exploração e produção conjuntas de hidrocarbonetos no espaço CPLP e também o estabelecimento de um consórcio para a exploração petrolífera no onshore de Timor-Leste, aberto à participação das empresas dos países da Comunidade.

Registaram a decisão da Corte Internacional /Tribunal Internacional de Justiça, de 3 de março de 2014, sobre o caso entre Timor-Leste e a Austrália relativo a “Questões quanto à Apreensão de Certos Documentos e Informações.

Tomaram nota do processo a decorrer no Tribunal Permanente de Arbitragem de Haia, que Timor-Leste iniciou em 23 de abril de 2013, nos termos do Tratado do Mar de Timor, assinado entre o Governo de Timor-Leste e o Governo da Austrália em 20 de Maio de 2002, e esperam que a delimitação das fronteiras marítimas entre ambos os Países se venha a realizar de acordo com os princípios de direito internacional e da Convenção das Nações Unidas sobre o Direito do Mar;

9. No âmbito da cooperação, reiteraram a sua relevância para o desenvolvimento sustentável dos Estados membros, a consolidação e projeção internacional da Comunidade, congratulando-se com:

i) O desenvolvimento sustentado do Pilar Cooperação na CPLP, reconhecendo o seu potencial de mútuo benefício para a coordenação, a promoção de sinergias, a apropriação e o reforço da responsabilidade conjunta dos Estados membros quanto aos instrumentos comunitários aprovados;

ii) O crescente reconhecimento do papel da Organização junto dos mais diversos parceiros de desenvolvimento no âmbito da Agenda para o Desenvolvimento pós-2015;

iii) O potencial que a cooperação da CPLP oferece, numa lógica de cooperação horizontal e triangular, para a partilha de conhecimento e experiências entre a cooperação tradicional e a cooperação Sul-Sul e com outros contextos e atores internacionais;

iv) A realização das XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII e XXIX Reuniões de Pontos Focais da Cooperação que permitiram progressos em termos de eficácia ao nível da execução técnica e operacional das atividades prosseguidas pelo Plano Indicativo de Cooperação (PIC) e uma intervenção técnica complementar, sinérgica e alinhada com a dos Estados membros, contribuindo para o reforço das suas capacidades para a prossecução dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento do Milénio;

v) O esforço de coordenação e harmonização que levou à aprovação de Planos Estratégicos de Cooperação, reconhecendo-os como instrumentos de cooperação multilateral que fortalecem e reforçam os respetivos sistemas nacionais e o nível de execução dos mesmos.

Registaram, assim, as diligências empreendidas pelos Estados membros para fortalecer a execução técnica e operacional dos Planos Estratégicos Setoriais de Cooperação já aprovados, na Saúde, Igualdade de Género e Empoderamento da Mulher, Mares, Juventude, Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional e Ambiente.

Registaram, igualmente, as concertações em curso para a aprovação do Plano Estratégico de Cooperação em Turismo da CPLP e do Plano Estratégico de Cooperação para a Promoção dos Direitos Humanos das Pessoas com Deficiência na CPLP;

vi) O reconhecimento da necessidade de reforçar a capacidade técnica das diferentes estruturas de acompanhamento e monitorização dos Planos Estratégicos de Cooperação Setorial, nomeadamente dos Secretariados Técnicos Permanentes das Reuniões Ministeriais Setoriais, tendo em vista o reforço no grau de implementação das ações e iniciativas deles decorrentes;

vii) A necessidade, no quadro da articulação dos Secretariados Técnicos Permanentes das Reuniões Ministeriais Sectoriais com o Secretariado Executivo e os Pontos Focais de Cooperação, da aplicação das decisões emanadas das VII e IX Conferências de Chefes de Estado e de Governo, que estimulam o reforço dos meios e condições para uma melhor coordenação e articulação de agendas tendo em vista uma maior eficácia das ações desenvolvidas no espaço comunitário;

viii) A realização da Campanha sobre a eliminação da violência contra as mulheres, sob o lema “Contra a violência eu dou a cara!”, por iniciativa de Portugal e lançada no espaço da CPLP no dia 25 de novembro de 2013, reconhecendo que a violência contra as mulheres, sob todas as suas formas, constitui uma das mais graves violações dos direitos humanos e liberdades fundamentais e um obstáculo para o gozo dos direitos e liberdades e para a realização da igualdade de género e o empoderamento das mulheres.

Saudaram o Secretariado Executivo da CPLP pelo seu envolvimento ativo nesta iniciativa;

ix) A aprovação da Carta da Juventude da CPLP, pela VI Conferência de Ministros responsáveis pela Juventude e pelo Desporto da CPLP, realizada em Salvador, Brasil, em dezembro de 2013;

x) Os resultados da III Reunião de Pontos Focais de Governo Eletrónico da CPLP, realizada no âmbito da I Conferência CPLP de Governo Eletrónico, entre 26 e 29 de novembro de 2013, na Torre do Tombo, em Lisboa, com o objetivo de partilhar experiências ao nível de Modernização Administrativa, Simplificação Regulatória, Inovação de Serviços de Atendimento e Normalização de Serviços Eletrónicos Transfronteiriços, entre outras matérias de Governo Eletrónico.

Saudaram Angola pela disponibilidade de acolher a II Conferência CPLP de Governo Eletrónico, entre 25 e 28 de novembro de 2014, em Luanda;

xi) O compromisso de retomar os resultados do I Fórum da Sociedade Civil da CPLP, nomeadamente a aprovação dos seus mecanismos de governação, a efetiva institucionalização do Fórum e a perspectiva da realização do II Fórum da Sociedade Civil da CPLP, em 2015;

xii) A disposição dos Estados membros de concertarem esforços junto dos organismos regionais e multilaterais a que pertencem, no sentido de operacionalizar mecanismos de financiamento para atividades de cooperação em parceria com a CPLP;

xiii) O reconhecimento da importância do debate sobre as opções de investimento público e privado, bem como as questões relacionadas com a gestão sustentável de recursos naturais para a promoção do crescimento económico na CPLP, assim como a necessidade de dar sequência às iniciativas de cooperação nas áreas fiscal, aduaneira e inspetiva, procurando contribuir para a melhoria contínua da qualidade e transparência da gestão das finanças públicas;

xiv) A reflexão que teve lugar no dia 21 de julho, em Díli, sobre o tema “O impacto da globalização nas finanças públicas da CPLP”, no âmbito da qual os Ministros das Finanças da CPLP debateram políticas económicas no quadro da resposta da Comunidade aos desafios globais, com especial destaque para o aprofundamento da cooperação económica tendo em vista a promoção das trocas comerciais e a intensificação dos fluxos de investimento entre os países da CPLP;

xv) Registaram com agrado o Programa de Ação da Presidência Timorense, e das linhas que preconiza para os três pilares da CPLP, assim como a prioridade conferida à cooperação económica e empresarial, que privilegia a implementação de projetos empresariais, em parceria com a Confederação Empresarial da CPLP, e projetos de cooperação no setor dos hidrocarbonetos; e encorajaram a realização do Fórum Económico Global da CPLP em 2015;

Acolheram o contributo da Confederação Sindical dos Países de Língua Portuguesa na mensagem dirigida à X Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da CPLP de Díli onde se sublinha a importância da agenda do trabalho digno como uma das mais poderosas ferramentas para a promoção de uma globalização mais equitativa e socialmente justa.

10. Tomaram nota, com satisfação, da realização, a 24 de junho de 2014, da VIII Reunião entre os Observadores Consultivos da CPLP e o Secretariado Executivo, que registou avanços tangíveis na articulação com as sete Comissões Temáticas setoriais, de que se esperam propostas de trabalho complementares à agenda da Comunidade.

11. No âmbito da Ação Cultural, Promoção e Difusão da Língua Portuguesa:

i) Felicitaram o esforço de coordenação e harmonização que levou à aprovação de dois Planos Estratégicos de Cooperação Setorial: o Plano Estratégico de Cooperação Cultural Multilateral e o Plano Estratégico de Cooperação Multilateral no Domínio da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior, enquanto instrumentos que refletem a determinação dos Estados membros implementarem ações concertadas, integradoras e sinérgicas de cooperação nestes setores.

Encorajaram, o Secretariado Executivo para, em articulação com os Estados membros, elaborar uma proposta de Plano Estratégico de Cooperação Multilateral no Domínio da Educação, de modo a impulsionar formas articuladas de cooperação neste setor;

ii) Tomaram boa nota das propostas formuladas pelos representantes da sociedade civil, das organizações de autores, escritores, artistas e especialistas dos Estados membros nos colóquios «Circulação de Bens Culturais e Mobilidade de Criadores» e na Mesa-Redonda sobre «Proteção dos Direitos de Autor na CPLP, no âmbito da realização da VI Semana Cultural da CPLP e no colóquio «Direito Constitucional de Língua Portuguesa», que contou com a participação de eminentes professores e constitucionalistas, em 2013;

iii) Saudaram, com satisfação, a realização da I Feira do Livro da CPLP, que decorreu em Luanda, de 22 a 30 de novembro de 2013, sob o lema «Ler para Aprender, Aprender para Conhecer»; bem como a realização da Feira do Livro de Díli, de 22 a 26 de julho de 2014, sob o lema: “Leitura em Viagem”; e manifestaram a vontade de que essas iniciativas sejam replicadas com regularidade nos restantes Estados membros.

Destacaram, ainda, a participação da CPLP, com um pavilhão, na 83.ª Feira do Livro de Lisboa, com a presença de autores de Angola, Cabo Verde, Guiné-Bissau, Moçambique, Portugal, São Tomé e Príncipe e Timor-Leste;

iv) Congratularam-se pela comemoração do Dia da Língua Portuguesa e da Cultura na CPLP se vir afirmando nos Estados membros e noutros países, bem como em diferentes comunidades da diáspora, como manifestação de que “a Língua Portuguesa é um meio privilegiado de difusão da criação cultural entre os povos que falam português e de projecção internacional dos seus valores culturais, numa perspectiva aberta e universalista”;

v) Felicitaram o júri do Prémio José Aparecido de Oliveira pela atribuição ex-aequo a Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão e à Igreja Católica Timorense, personalidade e instituição que se distinguiram na preservação da identidade cultural do povo Timorense; na luta pela independência de Timor-Leste; na defesa dos valores e princípios da CPLP; e na promoção e difusão da língua portuguesa.

Tomaram nota do gesto do Primeiro-ministro, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão de abdicar do Prémio em benefício único da Igreja Católica Timorense;

vi) Regozijaram-se com as iniciativas em curso nos Estados membros, apresentadas nas Reuniões Ministeriais Setoriais, que visam contribuir para a cooperação na CPLP nos domínios da ciência, tecnologia e ensino superior e da educação: Projeto RIPES – Rede de Instituições Públicas de Educação Superior (UNILAB/CPLP); MoRENet – Rede de Instituições de Ensino Superior e Investigação de Moçambique; Centro de Excelência para a Formação Avançada de Cientistas da CPLP em Ciências Fundamentais, sob auspícios da UNESCO; Cátedra da Língua Portuguesa – Língua Estrangeira (Universidade Eduardo Mondlane);

vii) Adotaram o Plano de Ação de Lisboa, com enfoque no português como língua de inovação e de conhecimento científico e na importância da Língua Portuguesa nas economias criativas, que define, juntamente com o Plano de Ação de Brasília, as estratégias globais para a promoção e difusão da língua portuguesa.

Saudaram Portugal por acolher a II Conferência Internacional sobre o Futuro da Língua Portuguesa no Sistema Mundial, de 29 a 31 de outubro de 2013;

Aclamaram a realização da III Conferência Internacional sobre o Futuro da Língua Portuguesa no Sistema Mundial, a organizar por Timor-Leste, em data a anunciar;

viii) Registaram, com satisfação, o lançamento oficial de dois importantes projetos do Plano de Ação de Brasília, doravante património da CPLP, reconhecendo e recomendando o seu desenvolvimento: a integração progressiva dos Vocabulários Ortográficos Nacionais (VONs) num Vocabulário Ortográfico Comum da Língua Portuguesa (VOC); e o Portal do Professor de Português Língua Estrangeira/Língua Não Materna (PPPLE), ambos representativos de cinco Estados Membros e disponíveis a partir do sítio do IILP na internet;

ix) Saudaram Angola por ter disponibilizado os meios financeiros e materiais para a implementação do projeto de promoção e difusão da Língua Portuguesa no espaço da SADC, o que levará à execução do projeto, em Gaborone, na sede do Secretariado Executivo desta organização regional, em Pretória, na África do Sul, e em Windhoek, na Namíbia;

x) Tomaram nota da reunião dos Secretários Gerais dos Três Espaços Linguísticos, em dezembro de 2013, em Paris, subordinada ao tema «Os Três Espaços Linguísticos na Globalização», evidenciando que o plurilinguismo vem demonstrando ser o presente e o futuro das relações internacionais, uma vez que a globalização acarreta a convivência plural das culturas e das línguas;

xi) Congratularam-se com a eleição da Directora Executiva do IILP, Senhora Professora Doutora Marisa Guião de Mendonça, proposta pela República de Moçambique, para o próximo biénio; e com a eleição do Prof. Doutor Raul Calane da Silva, de Moçambique, para a Presidência do Conselho Científico do IILP;

12. Reconduziram com satisfação, o Secretário Executivo da CPLP, Embaixador Murade Murargy, para o segundo mandato;

13. Tomaram nota da adoção, pelo Conselho de Ministros, das seguintes resoluções:

i) A Recomendação da Concessão da Categoria de Observador Associado da CPLP à Geórgia;
ii) A Recomendação da Concessão da Categoria de Observador Associado da CPLP à República da Namíbia;
iii) A Recomendação da Concessão da Categoria de Observador Associado da CPLP à República da Turquia;
iv) A Recomendação da Concessão da Categoria de Observador Associado da CPLP ao Japão;
v) A Concessão da Categoria de Observador Consultivo da CPLP;
vi) O Programa Indicativo de Cooperação da CPLP no Pós 2015;
vii) Os Planos Estratégicos de Cooperação Setorial da CPLP;
viii) A Continuidade, até 2025, do Tema Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional na Agenda da CPLP;
ix) A Convenção Multilateral de Segurança Social da CPLP;
x) A Cultura na Agenda para o Desenvolvimento Pós 2015;
xi) A Ciência, Tecnologia, Ensino Superior e Inovação na Agenda para o Desenvolvimento Pós 2015;
xii) A Educação na Agenda para o Desenvolvimento Pós 2015;
xiii) A Confederação Empresarial da CPLP;
xiv) A Criação de um Grupo Técnico de Estudo para a Exploração e Produção Conjuntas de Hidrocarbonetos no Espaço da CPLP;
xv) Relatórios de Auditoria às Demonstrações Financeiras do Secretariado Executivo da CPLP no ano de 2013 e do IILP no ano 2012;

14. Tomaram, igualmente, nota da adoção, pelo Conselho de Ministros, das seguintes declarações:
i) Declaração sobre a “CPLP e a Globalização”;
ii) Declaração sobre a Situação na Guiné-Bissau;
iii) Declaração de Apreço ao Diretor Executivo do IILP, Professor Doutor Gilvan Müller de Oliveira;

15. Aprovaram a Declaração de Apreço ao Presidente da República de Moçambique, Armando Emílio Guebuza, pela qual expressam um voto de louvor e apreço pelo empenho, zelo e determinação colocados ao serviço da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, durante o seu exercício como Presidente da República de Moçambique;

16. Aprovaram, igualmente, a Declaração de Apreço ao Presidente da República Portuguesa, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, pela qual expressam um voto de louvor e apreço pelo modo como contribuiu, de forma decisiva, para o prestígio e para o reconhecimento internacionais da CPLP, alicerçando assim, de forma sólida e duradoura, a sua projeção;

17. Acolheram e endossaram por meio de Resolução a Declaração do Conselho de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional da CPLP (CONSAN-CPLP);

18. Aprovaram a Resolução sobre a Criação de Grupo de Trabalho para a Definição de uma Nova Visão Estratégica da CPLP, para discutir e propor, ao Conselho de Ministros, diretrizes e políticas que servirão de base para a sua aprovação, na XI Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da CPLP;

19. Aprovaram ainda, por meio de Resolução, os Orçamentos de Funcionamento do Secretariado Executivo da CPLP e do Instituto Internacional da Língua Portuguesa;

20. Decidiram que a XX Reunião Ordinária do Conselho de Ministros da CPLP fixará o local e data da XI Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da CPLP, em 2016;

21. Felicitaram as autoridades timorenses pela excelente organização e expressaram o seu agradecimento pelo acolhimento e pela hospitalidade dispensada a todos os participantes na X Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa.

Feita e assinada em Díli, a 23 de julho de 2014

Uma Lulik

The pic was taken in 2011. It is a sacred house found in Los Palos. The text that follows was extracted from the Victoria Museum webpage.

"Every community in Timor Leste has its own specific language, culture and traditions. They are connected by the common language Tetun, the worship of ancestors and the importance of the Uma Lulik – the Sacred House.

The Uma Lulik is a symbol of self-assurance and self-determination, of confidence, honour and the strength of a people loyal to andenriched by its ancestry. Its active role changes in each community, but throughout Timor Leste the Uma Lulik is the centre of spirituality and tradition. The Sacred House is so closely connected to the land that an Uma Lulik cannot be built outside Timor Leste, and permission to reproduce its form is rarely given.

Artists who are inspired by the Uma Lulik find a way of representing it through models of traditional East Timorese houses, Uma Timor. When an Uma Timor is displayed, it is often referred to as Uma Lulik, in recognition of its symbolic connection.

The celebration of Loron Matebian, All Souls Day, on 2 November each year, strengthens and confirms our connection to the land of Timor Leste and its spiritual heart, the Uma Lulik."

Conflct in Timor Sea

By Sarita Ryan

According to Alexander Downer, former Australian Foreign Minister and subsequent board advisor to Woodside Petroleum, a country’s reputation is on the line. Downer claims that Timor-Leste’s appeal to terminate a key treaty with Australia in the Permanent Court of Arbitration reveals the tiny nation to be an unruly negotiator:

‘This is exactly why developed countries are reluctant to invest in developing countries. The sovereign risk is too high. An agreement, a law, a treaty is only okay when it suits the government…East Timor will win a reputation for being unreliable with no leverage to gain extra revenue from its reckless policy. As a person who did so much to get East Timorese their independence, that makes me sad.’

Recent proceedings have suggested that it might be Australia, rather than Timor-Leste, that is currently most at risk of gaining a bad reputation. When Sir Eli Lauterpacht, Timor-Leste’s leading counsel at the International Court of Justice, dubbed ASIO’s confiscation of evidence ‘improper and inexplicable’, Australia’s legal team responded to the assertions as ‘wounding’. Unfortunately for Australia, hurt feelings didn’t translate into a legal high ground in the ICJ, and it’s possible there are more sad faces to come; the ANU’s Donald Anton notes that if Timor-Leste’s allegations prove true, and Australia is found to have gained an unfair advantage in treaty negotiations through spying on Timor-Leste, Australia may earn the dubious distinction of being the first known state to have a treaty declared invalid on account of fraud (under Article 49 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties). Australia may well be losing the image game in its dealings with Timor-Leste.
For decades, Australia has sought to carefully manage the conflicting positions of its desire for resource control in the Timor Sea and its image as a nation aligned with the moral principles of sovereignty and self-determination. It is now looking increasingly like Australia may not be able to have it both ways. Contrary to Downer’s claim, the arbitration case concerns more than the gain of ‘extra revenue’ in Timor-Leste. Certainly, this is a case about oil and espionage, fair resource distribution and good faith in agreements between nations. However, the drama surrounding the spying scandal is something of the tip of an older issue: Timor-Leste’s ongoing struggle to become an independent, sovereign state, complete with maritime boundaries, and Australia’s fraught position in this process.

La’o Hamutuk, a prominent Timorese civil society organisation, has held several briefings for local and Australian journalists over the past few months to clarify a significant degree of confusion surrounding the case, including an often repeated claim that Timor-Leste’s arbitration case is seeking to redraw Australian/Timorese maritime borders. The organisation stressed that permanent maritime boundaries have never been set between Australia and Timor-Leste, rather, previous agreements have related to the division of resources in the Timor Sea. In taking the present case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Timor-Leste is seeking not only a re-division of oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea, but the establishment of maritime boundaries in accordance with international law, a persistent issue since the beginning of Australian/Timorese resource negotiations. As Juvinal Dias, a researcher at La’o Hamutuk, stressed, “(the arbitration case) is not just about oil. It’s about sovereignty… This struggle is like the struggle for independence.”

The story of Australian and Timorese oil and gas negotiations has been well documented,but is necessary to revisit in order to chart Australia’s long-term strategy in the Timor Sea. Discovered by Woodside Petroleum in the early 1970s, the untapped resources in the Greater Sunrise field, worth an estimated $40 billion, proved highly influential on Australia’s position regarding an independent Timor-Leste. In 1974, reflecting global trends in maritime agreements, Portuguese Timor advocated for resource sharing along a median line between the two countries, under which Australia would have received little or nil of the resources. On the contrary, precedent suggested that Indonesia would be far more amenable to Australia claiming a significant proportion; Indonesia and Australia had previously negotiated maritime boundaries based on the outdated ‘continental shelf’ principle, resulting in a deal that was referred to in Indonesia as ‘Australia taking us to the cleaners’. The following diplomatic cable, from the year prior to the collapse of Portuguese colonial rule and Indonesia’s subsequent invasion of Timor-Leste, reveals the extent to which resources were at the forefront of Australian concerns, coupled with a need to maintain an image of impartiality:
‘The Indonesians would probably be prepared to accept the same compromise as they did in the negotiations already completed on the seabed boundary between our two countries. Such a compromise would be more acceptable to us than the present Portuguese position. For precisely this reason however, we should be careful not to be seen as pushing for self-government or independence for Portuguese Timor or for it to become part of Indonesia, as this would probably be interpreted as evidence of our self-interest in the seabed boundary dispute rather than a genuine concern for the future of Portuguese Timor.’

In 1975, Australia chose to adopt a ‘realist’ rather than ‘idealist’ position on Timorese self-determination, which was argued to provide not just greater regional stability, but greater possibilities for resource access. This famous letter from Richard Woolcott, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia in 1975, provides the background of Australia’s tacit approval of the Indonesian annexation of Timor-Leste:

‘It would seem to me that (the Australian) Department (of Minerals and Energy) might well have an interest in closing the present gap in the agreed sea border and that this could be much more readily negotiated with Indonesia…than with Portugal or independent Portuguese Timor…I know I am recommending a pragmatic rather than a principled stand (regarding Indonesian annexation) but this is what national interest and foreign policy is all about.’

This ‘pragmatic’ position proved highly profitable for Australia. Following Indonesia’s 1975 invasion of Timor-Leste, Australia and Indonesia signed the Timor Gap Treaty (1989). By this stage, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) had come into effect, establishing the median line principle as the basis for setting maritime jurisdictions between countries less than 400 nautical miles apart. However, in a highly favourable deal to Australia, the Timor Gap Treaty divided the resources between the 1972 boundary and the median line equally. The treaty proved extremely profitable, with Australia netting more than $2 billion in government taxes from the Laminaria-Corallina fields alone. These fields are now largely depleted

In the late 1990s, the growing surge for independence in Timor-Leste threw all previous agreements between Indonesia and Australia into doubt. In anticipation, Australia withdrew its recognition of the maritime boundary dispute jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, just two months prior to Timor-Leste’s declaration of independence. At the time, Downer asserted that it was it was Australia’s ‘strong view is that any maritime boundary dispute is best settled by negotiation rather than litigation.’ Timor Sea agreements between the newly independent Timor-Leste and Australia were then negotiated directly between the two countries, without reference to UNCLOS. The resulting Timor Sea Treaty (signed in 2002, ratified in 2003) established that fields in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA), such as Bayu Undan, are shared via a 90% (Timor-Leste) and 10% (Australia) split, an improvement on the 50/50 split under Indonesian rule. This appears considerably more equitable than the earlier arrangement; however, it must be kept in mind that Australia would not be entitled to any of these resources under the median line principle. During the negotiations, Timor-Leste repeatedly tried to raise the issue of permanent maritime boundaries along a median line, prompting this well documented outburst from Downer: ‘We don’t have to exploit the resources (in Bayu Undan). They can stay there for 20, 40, 50 years…. We are very tough. We will not care if you give information to the media. Let me give you a tutorial in politics- not a chance.’

Another key problem of the Timor Sea Treaty was its link to the Sunrise-International Unification Agreement (referred to in this article as the ‘Sunrise Agreement’). Despite the Greater Sunrise field falling entirely in Timor-Leste’s maritime territory under UNCLOS, the Sunrise Agreement stated that less than 20% of Greater Sunrise lay within the JPDA, with the remaining 80% assigned to Australia. Australia would not ratify the Timor Sea Treaty until Timor had signed the Sunrise Agreement, delaying desperately needed cash flow to Timor from Bayu Undan. At the time, Greens Senator Bob Brown accused the Howard Government of ‘blackmail’, and was suspended from the Senate for the day as a result. Timor-Leste is now claiming, through its case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, that Australia was well aware of its desperate position through the bugging of government offices in Dili, and that these agreements were made in bad faith on Australia’s part. Timor-Leste resisted ratifying the Sunrise Agreement for years after signing it, and in 2006 the Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS) Treaty was devised as a compromise, giving each country a 50% share of Greater Sunrise. The treaty also came with the condition that Timor-Leste would not raise the issue for another fifty years, thus effectively closing the possibility for Timor-Leste to set permanent maritime boundaries, at least until after Timor Sea oil and gas reserves had been exhausted.

As far back as 1974, it was acknowledged in Australian government circles that it was important to balance Australia’s resource aspirations with establishing a cooperative relationship with an independent Timor-Leste: ‘If Australia thus became a focus of antagonism, we would almost certainly lose much of our capability to influence or assist a newly independent government’ (38 Cablegram to New York, 1974). Australia is acknowledged as a key actor in Timor-Leste’s independence narrative; our assistance through the INTERFET peace keeping force during the 1999 independence referendum and subsequent violence is well remembered and appreciated, and AusAID (now DFAT) contributes roughly $116 million per year in aid expenditure, making Australia Timor’s largest bilateral donor. However, it has also been well noted that Australia’s profits from Timor Sea reserves, both during Indonesian occupation and post-independence, far outweigh the costs of any military and humanitarian assistance to Timor-Leste. As Dias exclaimed during our conversation: ‘You can’t give me a hand and take my arm!’ That the alleged spying occurred under the cover of an AusAID program is uncomfortably symbolic of Australia’s long-standing position towards Timor-Leste. Timorese sovereignty and Australia’s economic self-interest in the Timor Sea have never sat easily together.

In January 2014, Downer wrote an opinion piece promoting Australia as a responsible international citizen after a series of attacks by the ABC and others, describing such criticism as a ‘standard practice at the ABC. Whenever a foreigner criticises us, it’s always our fault.’ Downer describes CMATS as an act of charitable goodwill by the Australia government: ‘In 2006 we struck a deal with the Timorese: we’d give them 50 percent of the revenue (of Greater Sunrise) because they were poor and we were rich….We didn’t really need the money to the extent that they did.’
Strikingly, not once in Downer’s opinion piece does he mention the awkward reality of the median line principle and UNCLOS, which might suggest that Australia may have ‘given away’ that which was, in fact, not its to give.

The upcoming months may prove to be dramatic for the relationship between Australia and Timor-Leste. It could well be that Australia walks away from the Permanent Court of Arbitration not just with the loss of Greater Sunrise, but with an unenviable reputation as a country that conducts international agreements in bad faith, and exploits small, poor countries for its own economic gain. The game may well have changed. If-Leste is successful in the Court, it will certainly seek to establish its own permanent maritime boundaries, in accordance with the median line principle. For Timor-Leste, this would be the conclusion of a struggle for self-determination spanning forty years. For Australia, it may well prove to be a clear sign that its economic self-interest in the Timor Sea is simply at odds with both the sovereignty of its tiny neighbor, and principles of international law. Perhaps having it both ways was never really possible.

Sarita Ryan is a teacher and researcher of labour, education and informal economies. 



SOURCE: RIGHT NOW

About the Timor Sea Maritime Boundary

       A blog has literally mapped all the agreements and bureaucracy process that the Timor Sea has been passing through from the past almost 40 years. The blog actually has several posts about the theme, so it is definitely worth checking it out! It has been added to the links page, at the left site.

SOURCE: The View From LL2

Ministry to revitalize fishery management

The Jakarta Post, 19/02/2014.

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry on Tuesday announced a plan aimed at revitalizing fishery management in the country and to help it conform with the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM).



In the first phase, the management plan will be implemented in the waters of Aru, Arafura and the east of the Timor Sea, dubbed the fishery management area (WPP) 718 region.



“The ministry will revitalize fishery management in all areas of Indonesia, starting with WPP 718 because Aru, Arafura and the east of the Timor Sea have the most fishery potential in Indonesia,” Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo said before the announcement of the management plan in Jakarta on Tuesday.



WPP 718, which is administratively governed by the Maluku, West Papua and Papua provinces, is the first of Indonesia’s 11 fishery management areas to be given the treatment that will be implemented in accordance with the 32 indicators of the EAFM consisting of six domains, namely fish resources, habitat and ecosystem, fishing techniques, social, economy and institutional.



The EAFM aims to maintain sustainable fisheries, as ensuring the long-term health of the marine ecosystem is the determinant factor to ensure a sustainable yield of commercial harvests from the sea.



Fishermen will be supervised and given counselling on sustainable fisheries by the National Working Group on the EAFM, which includes the Directorate of Fisheries Resources, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia as well as the Research Center of Marine and Coastal Resources.



Sharif said that Indonesia was already late in implementing the EAFM in comparison to other countries such as Spain and China, which have already applied the fishing opening and closing season depending on the species and the area.



“Indonesia opened its waters to all businesspeople and fishermen to capture fishes from, but we must implement the ‘open-close’ fishing system so that fish may spawn before they are caught so fish population will increase,” Sharif said.



Director general of Fisheries Gellwynn Jusuf said that in the implementation, the central government would work together with local administrations as well as organizations and research centers. “Such integrated cooperation on fishery management is the first of its kind in Indonesia,” said Gellwynn.



According to Gellwynn, the fishery management plan aims to be beneficial for local administrations, the central government as well as businesses to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) and to promote the implementation of the ecosystem approach to implement the blue economy, which aims to fulfil basic needs where the waste becomes the input.



“WPP 718 contains one of the world’s most fertile ecosystems; its shrimp potential is 45 percent of the national potential, and also contributes 20 percent to the total national fishery potential. 



However, it also has experienced the biggest loss due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, an estimated Rp 17 trillion (US$1.4 billion) in losses,” said Sharif.



According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), marine capture fishery production in Maluku, West Papua and Papua in 2012 was 537,262 tons, 120,329 tons and 281,480 tons, respectively.



Sharif added that marine capture fishery production in Indonesia would be higher without IUU. He stated that with close supervision from the Maritime and Fisheries Resources Monitoring Task Force and the local administrations in the WPP 718 area, he was upbeat that the implementation of RPP-WPP 718 would increase Indonesia’s marine capture fishery production.

SOURCE: Jakarta Post

Poesias Timorense

Menino de Timor
Jorge Barros Duarte

Menino de Timor, estás triste?!...
Porquê?!... - Não tenho com quem brincar!
Nem com quem!... Já nem posso falar!...
A minha terra correste e viste

Como só há silêncio e tristeza!...
Assim é na palhota que habito!...
Já nem oiço na várzea um só grito!...
Só vejo gente que chora e reza!...

Que saudade que eu tenho dos jogos
Da minha aldeia agora deserta!...
O "La'o-rai", que a memória esperta,
Co'as pocinhas na terra, ora a fogos

Mil sujeita!... O "caleic" também era
jogo apreciado da pequenada:
"Hana-caleic"!... de tudo já nada
Resta agora!... Só vejo essa fera

De garra adunca e dente aguçado
A rugir tão feroz que ninguém
A doma já, pois tem medo não tem
De um povo à fome, sem horta ou gado!...

Menino, sou, mas sofro já tanto
Como se fora de muita idade
E co'a alma cheia só de maldade!... 
Jesus, tem pena deste meu pranto!...

Jesus Menino, dá-me alegria!...
Se na minha terra é tudo tão triste!...
Gente tão má neste mundo existe?!...
Coisas assim tão ruins?!... Não sabia!... 

Mais em http://www.jornaldepoesia.jor.br/timor.html 

Coral Triangle Initiative Member Countries Target Launch of Permanent Secretariat by 2014

To further strengthen their commitment to protect and sustain the world’s epicenter of marine biodiversity, member countries of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) have committed to launch its Permanent Secretariat and install an Executive Director by mid-2014.

The commitment was made by more than 70 CTI –CFF government representatives at the 9th CTI-CF Senior Officials Meeting (SOM9) held in Manila from November 26-27, 2013. CTI-CFF officials agreed to the establishment of an Appointments Committee by February 2014 and the engagement of an independent recruitment expert to serve as Facilitator for the hiring of the Executive Director.

The Permanent Secretariat will be hosted by Indonesia and will serve as the main coordinating body in implementing the initiative’s Regional Plan of Action. The CTI-CFF members, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste, have also committed that at least four countries will have ratified the Agreement on the  Establishment of CTI-CFF Regional Secretariat by early 2014 so that it can enter into force.

The two-day SOM9 followed meetings and incorporated outcomes of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management Technical Working Grou ; the Financial Resources Working Group ; and the Coordination Mechanisms Working Group on November 25, 2013. A CTI-CFF Partner Meeting was also conducted on November 28, 2013.

CTI-CFF officials also took steps to expand CTI membership, partnership and collaborative arrangements. In particular, the Meeting considered Brunei-Darussalam’s expression of interest to join the CTI-CFF, the Coral Triangle Center’s application to be recognized as an official CTI Partner, and proposed cooperation arrangements between the CTI-CFF and other international organizations, specifically the South East Asia Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Date: 28 November 2013
Source: CoralTriangleInitiative.org

Sunrise

Simple like this....sunrise on the way back to Dili from Ataúro Island!

New laws, new projects

Decree-Law approving the Organic Law of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

According to the Organic of the V Constitutional Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is responsible for the design, implementation, coordination and evaluation of the policy, defined and approved by the Council of Ministers, for the areas of agriculture, forestry, livestock and fisheries.

Aiming to give a response to the great options of the policy, established in accordance with the Strategic Development Plan, this diploma reformulates the structure and the due competencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, giving it the means that allow increasing equity, effectiveness and efficiency of its services, in order to achieve food safety and generate national economic growth.

Tasi Mane Projects

After an analysis of the results of calls for projects related with the South Coast (Tasi Mane), presented to the National Procurement Commission (NPC), the Council of Ministers approved the recommendation of NPC, of awarding the contract for the construction of the Airport of Suai to the firm PT.Washkita Karya.

The Council of Ministers also assessed the result of the pre-qualifying evaluation for the design and construction of the Logistical Support Base of Suai, having approved the application of five companies from the 15 competing for this project. The selected companies were: Essar Projects (India) Ltd, Afcons Infrastructure Ltd., HDEC-HEC-AMCO consortium, BAM International-Van Oord Dredging-Marine Contractor-Wijaya Karya consortium and the Construtora San Jose S.A.-Tecnicas Reunidas S.A. consortium.

SOURCE: ETAN

Adventuring with information - Climate Change’s Impact on Timor’s Coral Reefs

Really nice work developed by Emelyn Rude... will try to find out some more information about this study!


By: Emelyn Rude

In 2007, despite mounting civil unrest, Timor-Leste established its first National Park connecting a number of endangered bird areas and encompassing a large section of the Coral Triangle, an underwater zone believed to hold the greatest diversity of marine life on Earth. Emelyn Rude is a Young Explorer studying the balance between environmental conservation and economic development in a nation of newly restored independence.

One of the incredible resources available to the people of Com, and the majority of those living on Timor’s coasts for that matter, are the country’s spectacular coral reefs. Timor-Leste is situated right at the very south of the famed Coral Triangle, an underwater area with the highest marine biodiversity of anywhere on the planet.

Home to some 75 percent of all known species of coral and 3,000+ species of reef fish, this marine area encompasses the oceans around the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, as well as Timor-Leste.

The importance of these reefs are not only environmental – they are incredibly lucrative to local communities as well. The fisheries and aquaculture in the region have an estimated value of $11.7 billion and reef and beach based tourism provides a revenue of approximately $12 billion annually.

But conservation, tourism, and fishing do not always work hand in hand, so that’s where efforts by groups such as the Coral Triangle Initiative come in.

Referenced from their website, ”The Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security (CTI-CFF) is a multilateral partnership of six countries working together to sustain extraordinary marine and coastal resources by addressing crucial issues such as food security, climate change and marine biodiversity.” It’s American-based glue, and major funding source is USAID, with technical support from the NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association).

I managed to catch up with Rusty Brainard over the phone a few weeks ago while he was waiting to board a flight to Scotland. Mr. Brainard is the Division Chief of the Coral Reef Ecosystem Division at the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Center and has done extensive work in Timor as well as in the broader Coral Triangle as a whole. Below are some highlights of a much longer interview that can be read here.

Climate Change and its impact on coral reefs are a growing global issue. Can you go into more detail on the Coral Triangle Initiative’s efforts surrounding climate change in Timor?

Rusty Brainard: We have established 10 baseline sites around the country, three on the south shore, one on the east, and the rest on the north shore. At each site we measure acidity, carbon chemistry, overall salinity, pH, saturation rate, and temperature. All of these are used to establish a baseline of carbon readings.

Calcium carbonate levels are significant to measure the calcification rate of corals and algae. In order for coral to grow, it needs a certain substrate of calcium carbonate, which helps the polyps attached to rocky surfaces and forms the basis of their skeletal growth.

When you change the sea water chemistry, both corals and algea suffer badly. By mid-century, depending on which CO2 emission prediction is correct, many of these reef building species will no longer be able to produce the calcium carbonate that is essential to the reef structure. Only 1,000 species of coral can do this, but millions of species depend on this habitat to survive. We will lose the reef’s diversity.

Have you already seen climate change’s impact on Timor’s reefs?

RB: We’ve established a baseline of calcification, but we don’t have data for what the rates were previously. We’ve taken coral bores to track it in decades past but we’re having difficulty taking these bores back to the United States. Timor-Leste is not signed on to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) so the NOAA can’t bring the bores out of the country.

When Timor first gained independence they signed on to a whole host of treaties without thinking of the long-term consequences, which caused lots of problems for them. The government is not against CITES, but is more wary of signing onto new treaties now. Hopefully they will ratify it soon.

The Great Barrier Reef has seen dramatic increases in calcification rates over the past few decades however.

Bores? How does that work? Is it like tree rings?

RB: Yes, actually. Corals with an abundance of food tend to grow really fast and also tend to be more resilient to increased carbon emissions in the water. You can see this growth on the coral’s internal structures.

Bores aside, all this doesn’t sound very positive. Is there any hope for the Coral Triangle?

RB: A lot of our observations about calcification come from the lab environment, but coral in the wild might be much more resilient than we think. Chemical changes in an experiment happen over the course of a few days while these changes happen over decades in the oceans. But chemical changes do also seem to have a devastating impact on coral reproduction, but we know very little at this point about coral’s life history.

How are CTI’s efforts in Timor different from their efforts elsewhere in the Coral Traingle?

RB: Working in Timor is much easier because the country is much smaller, especially compared to Indonesia. They are also developing an economic system from scratch. Getting people to change is really hard, but the government here didn’t even exist a decade ago. We are able to start from an eco-system based approach right off the bat, which is much less of a challenge than trying to get people to change.

But it’s also difficult. They have very little structures in place, particularly information structures. Politically, population wise, resource wise, it’s also a very different situation. It’s more similar to pacific islands like American Samoa in that sense.

A big thanks to Rusty Brainard for risking missing his flight to take the time out to talk to me.

SOURCE: RudeAdventures

Fish's frame

          These pictures were taken at a MAF's office. It is about a few sea fishes species found in Timor-Leste water's....but you do not have to be a PhD to know that there is many more species to be identified, studied, catalogued,...

          Timor-Leste needs to support researches about its coastal waters. This area has a extreme value for the society and environment. This would help the sustainable development of Timor!

Xanana Gusmão's speech at the “Harnessing Natural ResourceWealth for Inclusive Growth and Economic Development” Conference

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRIME MINISTER KAY RALA XANANA GUSMÃO

AT THE CONFERENCE ON  “HARNESSING NATURAL RESOURCE  WEALTH FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT”

Dili, Timor-Leste

18 September 2013

His Excellency Taur Matan Ruak, President of the Republic

His Excellency Anoop Singh, Director of the International Monetary Fund’s Asia and
Pacific Department

His Excellency, Mr Hiroto Arakawa, Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank

Members of Parliament

Members of Government

Ambassadors

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to speak at this conference on “Harnessing Natural ResourceWealth for Inclusive Growth and Economic Development”.

I would like to thank the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, theWorld Bank Group and the Japan International Cooperation Agency for their importantsupport to this Conference.

We also welcome our international guests who will be able to share with us lessonslearned from resource rich nations around our region and the world.

I am very pleased to speak today because the theme of this conference reflects ourvision for our nation. It is a vision that is set out in our Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030 and it is a vision we are already pursuing with determination.

It is absolutely our intention - and our unrelenting focus - to wisely use our natural resource wealth to develop a diversified economy and build our beloved nation for all our people.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In Timor-Leste we are well aware of the rise in inequality across the world. This is both in developed and developing countries, including the great emerging economies.

In our region of the Asia Pacific we have seen spectacular growth stories. With access to capital and a focus on human resources many Asian nations have made remarkable progress which has lifted millions of people out of poverty.

Economic growth can only be sustainable; however, if we ensure that there is improvement in the social well being of the people. However, some of the economic growth in our region has often not being balanced and inequality continues to rise.

The Asia Pacific is still home to nearly two thirds of the world’s poor and far too many people face hunger and extreme deprivation. Without addressing poverty and inequality the social cohesion and stability of many growing economies will be put at great risk.

There are many reasons for the growth in inequality but a common thread is the self-interested actions of the wealthy and the powerful.

The world’s financial system is a key part of the problem as it perpetuates and reinforces inequality. I think we can say with confidence that global free market finance has failed.

The Global Financial Crisis stripped bare the world of finance and exposed gross inefficiency, unrestrained greed and systemic corruption. To make matters worse, no one in the developed world took responsibility for the Crisis and it was the world’s poor and vulnerable that suffered most. And yet, even during the Crisis, Timor-Leste was subject to moralising lectures, for spending our money to improve the desperate lives of our people, by the very same experts who were bringing the world’s economy to its knees.

The unrestrained greed and market manipulation by world finance resulted in a huge rise in inequality, as well as in hypocrisy. It also brought poverty and struggle to the people of once proud European nations. We saw hundreds of billions of dollars in bailout funds being given to developed nations while the world’s fragile and Least Developed Countries were largely ignored. And we must ask the question, why?

It is perverse that we are urged to put our faith in this same system that has caused such pain and which continues to perpetuate inequality. There must be a better way.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In Timor-Leste we want to follow a different path. We want to make sure the benefit of our natural resources and our development is spread across our whole nation and to all our people. That is why Timor-Leste is pursuing balanced and sustained growth.

Timor-Leste is a small but emerging economy with open markets and some of the lowest tax rates in the world. We have set an economic and regulatory framework to promote growth and development.

Since 2007, we have enjoyed average rates of economic growth of 11.9% and this strong growth is predicted to continue into the future. This is creating jobs and opportunities for our people and tax revenue to fund important government services including health and education.

We understand that we remain a fragile nation and our economic progress has been possible because of our sustained stability and security. For this important reason, we have also been investing in the professionalism and capability of our security sector to maintain and build peace.

Our sovereign wealth fund, the Petroleum Fund, has grown from $1.8 billion in 2007 to almost $14 billion dollars today. Since January this year, the fund has increased on average by more than $300 million each month, thanks to crisis in Egypt and Syria.

We all recognise the enormous responsibility that we have in ensuring that the wealth from our natural resources is spent to improve the lives and opportunities of our people and build a foundation for our future; while at the same time preserving wealth for future generations.

We are proud that Timor-Leste was the first country in Asia, and the third country in the world, to comply with the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative. This means that every dollar earned from our oil and gas resources is accounted for and audited so that the funds are managed transparently for the benefit of our people.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our people sacrificed so much for the cause of independence and self-determination.

They have suffered unspeakable acts of violence and hardship. And while we prevailed against all odds, and with little international support, too many still suffer every day from extreme poverty and miserable living conditions. They deserve more.

When we became an independent nation we started with nothing. We had no money, no experience of nation building and we lacked the core infrastructure necessary to support a modern and productive economy.

And so, when the wealth from our petroleum reserves started to flow we had only one option – to spend money to meet the immediate needs of our people and begin the development of our country.

First, we recognised that without electricity we could not build our country, grow our economy or provide government services. So we embarked on our country’s biggest ever infrastructure project and built a national electricity generation and distribution system. This means that power is now provided across the nation.

We know that we have a long way to go. While building good national infrastructure is essential to being able to develop socially and support balanced growth, the challenge is large and ongoing.

We need to build an extensive network of quality and well maintained roads to connect our communities, promote rural development and support industry and tourism.

Providing access to safe drinking water and sanitation is critical to the wellbeing of our people and our national development. And it is important that we have sea port capacity to support our development and a national airport that can meet growing demands.

Importantly, we are also working to establish an undersea optic cable connection from Darwin to Timor-Leste to provide access to high speed broadband internet. This is to make sure that our nation does not suffer from being on the wrong side of the global technological divide and will give our people equal access to knowledge and global connections.

Without providing our nation with core infrastructure we cannot achieve balanced and equitable growth.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our vision, which is set out in our Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030 is to transform our country from a low income nation to a country with upper-middle income levels by 2030, with a population that is secure, educated and healthy.

The first section of our Strategic Development Plan is Social Capital. We started our plan with this focus on health, education and training, social inclusion and because we know that the true strength of our nation is our people. We recognise that we cannot build a nation without the human resources to do so.

It is often said that you can judge a society by how well it treats its weakest members. In Timor-Leste we are proud to able to support the most vulnerable member of our community. We have established an effective system of pension and transfer payments to the elderly, the disabled and to our veterans and introduced similar social justice measures for other vulnerable groups such as women, children and young people. We see this as an appropriate way for using our natural resource wealth to tackle inequality and disadvantage.

It is very important that this conference does not neglect an issue of vital importance to equitable growth and that is the circumstances of women and girls.

Growth can never be inclusive if most economic power resides in men. Social progress is no progress at all if it is only men that are benefiting or if women and girls are subject to violence and abuse.

We must always remember that the women of our nation sacrificed and suffered as much as the men in our struggle for independence. Regrettably, this included sexual violence which has been a brutal weapon of war in conflicts across the world. In measuring inclusive growth and development, I therefore suggest we consider gender equality, and violence against women and girls, as critical indicators of progress and development.

Ladies and gentlemen,


Government expenditure must also be balanced across the whole nation to ensure that we do not create an enclave economy in Dili.

The government is embarking on a program of decentralisation to ensure the delivery of services is brought closer to all our people and to give the responsibility for decision making about local issues to local communities.

We are also undertaking a major initiative to ensure that our economic growth is balanced across our nation. The Programa Nasional Dezenvolvimentu Suku, or National Program for Village Development, is a new, nation-wide community development program which will see more than $300 million over 8 years funding basic village infrastructure.

In our rural areas, poor infrastructure is a key constraint to development and access to services and opportunities which helps perpetuate a cycle of poverty and inequality. By supporting communities to plan and build basic infrastructure, this program aims to help to make sure that people are not excluded from development opportunities. It follows the earlier Referendum Package and District Development Programs and is a key policy to ensure balanced and fair economic growth.

We are also moving to establish a Special Economic and Social Zone in Oecussi. Dr. Mari Alkatiri is leading the establishment of this development zone and the concept may be extended to other parts of the country. The Special Zone in Oecussi is a new approach to promote sustainable and balanced development and fight poverty.

Through this Zone Oecussi will become a commercial and industrial centre focusing on market opportunities in the region.

Timor-Leste is also implementing the Tasi Mane Project to develop an on-shore oil and gas industry to create jobs and underpin economic growth. The Tasi Mane Project will open up our south coast as a sub-regional centre for the petroleum industry, bringing a direct economic dividend from this industry.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Before I finish, I would just like to mention that Timor-Leste knows it is not alone in the fight against poverty and systematic oppression. We have reached out to the international community in solidarity and joined with other nations facing similar challenges to ourselves.

In particular, Timor-Leste wants to address the problems with development assistance and international engagement in fragile and developing countries. We have seen so much money being spent for so few outcomes in the name of international aid. An important part of this approach is working with the g7+, which is an innovative new collaboration between 18 fragile States to provide a united voice for fragile countries and to advocate for change in global development policies. Many of the g7+ members are rich in natural resources and we want to work together to ensure that we are not exploited and to ensure that the benefits of this wealth is distributed fairly to our people.

As a group we want to ensure that natural resource wealth does not fuel conflict as we know from bitter experience that without peace and stability there can be no development.

This message was repeated loudly and clearly, when the ‘g7+’ nations, and some of our neighbours from Asia and the Pacific Islands met in Dili in February of this year, at an international conference, hosted by my Government with the theme “Development for All”. The Conference agreed on the “Dili Consensus”, which set out our priorities, and hopes, for the post-2015 development agenda.

The Dili Consensus recognised that the standard approaches to development have failed and acknowledged that the challenges we face vary depending upon local context.

The nations of the world will meet at a special session of the United Nations on September 25 to follow up efforts made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and to discuss the post 2015 development agenda. Timor-Leste is proud of our Finance Minister, Emilia Pires, who was a member of the High Level Panel that advised the United Nations Secretary General on this agenda.

In April this year, Timor-Leste was also honoured to take over the Chair of the 69th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific. I have the privilege to Chair this session and working with ESCAP, and the nations of the Asia Pacific, to make further progress and improve human development.

We debated the challenges faced by the nations of the Asia-Pacific region with the aim of better integrating plans and actions at the regional and sub-regional levels to address human development and provide better connectivity to break the isolation of some countries.

We are of course honoured to work with Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, United Nations Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP. Regrettably it was not possible to have Dr. Heyzer here with us today in her capacity as Special Adviser of the United Nations Secretary-General for Timor-Leste. We wish her a quick recovery and we look forward to working with her in friendship and cooperation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I wish you all the most productive and constructive conference on Harnessing Natural Resource Wealth for Inclusive Growth and Economic Development.

I trust that the outcomes of this conference will help us to improve our fiscal policy, and the design of our national public investment framework, to transform our nation through a stronger and diversified economy. Using our natural resources wisely will allow us to make sustainable structural changes to our country.

Economic growth by itself is for nothing if it does not support poverty reduction, job creation, better education and health services and the tackling of social exclusion.

Our people fought for independence, not for a few but for every single Timorese person.

Let us all work together again to build a better and fairer nation for our people.

Thank you very much.

18 September 2013
Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão

Renewable Energy

      Energy is always going to be a critical discussion. The human evolutionary process (from the society point of view) has been driven to the complete dependence of energy. We need it to warm us up, to move us around but what we really need is electrical energy. Our comforts are provided by energy.

    Nowadays, the globe's most used energy are non-renewable, which means we are using finite source such oil, gas, minerals. From the pasts decades, renewable energy such wind, solar, tide, have been studied, but its practice is still very far. Although we have several examples of renewable energy being applied throughout the world, the high prices are the main crippling, besides the big energetic lobby among mega corporations and the cultural change that humans must go through to accept clean energy as a basic need.
   
    Today follows a report about renewable energy in Timor, how the country has been positioned about it and what are the goals. To read it, just click at the below link.

Click Here

More Weather

     Following the latest post, here we forward a didatic and easy-interpretation website to check the forecast all over Timor-Leste. Simple to surf, simple understand, helpful.

http://www.tempu.tl/en/

Timor Climate Data

Here you can find weather data from various sources for Timor Leste. The reliability of the data is left to your own discretion. We hope that we can add to this content and update the files as we collate more data.
Daily weather data – get the daily weather data from our 20 automatic weather stations. Includes a map with GPS locations of each site. Data for rain, temperature, humidity, radiation and wind speed. (Starts from Oct, 2012)
Atauro Weather – Click here to access data about what the weather at Atauro is doing right now!
Oecussi Weather - Click here to access data about what the weather at Oecussi is doing right now!
Notes on the satellite weather stations

1. Data is recorded every 60 minutes. So rainfall of 20mm means 20mm over 60 minutes.
2. Data updates every 3 hours.
3. Wind speed is measured in meters per second. 1 ms-1 = 1.94 knots. Basically, double the wind speed to get knots.
4. Wind direction is measured as degrees from north. 90deg = east, 180deg = south, 270deg = west
5. From time to time a sensor stops functioning eg wind direction constantly at 353deg shows its stopped functioning.

Seeds of Life Rainfall - Daily rainfall data for over 20 different sites where SoL measures rain for research purposes.
The Santiga File – A massive research task resulted in the collation of monthly rainfall data from 64 sites around Timor Leste.  Records date as far back as 1914 and go through to Indonesian times.
ALGIS,  Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries – Monthly data for the 12 automatic weather stations managed by the agro-meteorology division in MAF.

Historical Weather Data from Timor Agri:

Monthly Stream Flow Data for 28 locations around Timor Leste from 1952-1974
http://www.bmkg.go.id/imagesData/satelit.jpg - Courtesy of BMKG, Jakarta, Indonesia
http://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/ab/abpwsair.jpg - Courtesy of US Naval Observatory
http://tropic.ssec.wisc.edu/real-time/mimic-tpw/ausf/anim/latest72hrs.gif - Courtesy of SSEC, University of Wisconsin, USA

SOURCE: Seeds Of Life

Timor-Leste Fish Survey Will Help Create Sustainable Fisheries

By:Rui Pinto

    CI recently supported a joint National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/Coral Triangle Support Partnership fish biomass survey along the northern coast of <http://www.conservation.org/where/asia-pacific/timor-leste/pages/timor-leste.aspx>Timor-Leste. Working with the government and communities, the team aims to develop understanding of the local ecology. The results will provide valuable information about the numbers and size of nearshore fish stocks, vital to improve sustainable fisheries management in the region.

    Local fishermen launch their boat in Nino Konis Santana National Park in eastern Timor-Leste. (© World Wildlife Fund, Inc. / Matthew Abbott)

    Fishing plays an important role on Atauru, a small island off the coast of Dili which is home to 8,000 people. Thanks to CI’s<http://blog.conservation.org/2013/02/biodiversity-survey-supports-new-no-take-zones-in-timor-leste/> marine Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) survey in 2012, we know that Atauro has one of the highest levels of marine biodiversity throughout Timor-Leste, including several species thought to be new to science.

    Managing an area with such high endemic diversity has plenty of challenges. There is a range of languages spoken on the island, which can make managing fisheries difficult. There are also many fishing sites and only three fisheries officers, responsible for covering 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of marine area.

    The research currently being done will help inform the community about the quantity of fish that exist within Atauru fishing boundaries. To do this, NOAA is collecting information about habitats, which species are found there and their sizes. We are also collecting water samples to better understand ocean changes and acidification.

    Needless to say, all the people we have met during our work here truly appreciate our support toward improved understanding and management of fisheries, as this natural resource is essential to local livelihoods. Fishing is the main source of income on the island.

    On our first day we met José Guerreiro, one of the three fisheries officers on Atauru. Together we discussed our plans and explained the scientific process and techniques involved in the fish survey. We brought along posters showing small invertebrates and their importance to the health of the reef. These visuals made it easier to explain the<http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cred/arms.php> Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) that were installed on the reef last year by NOAA.

    In 2015, these ARMS will be brought onto land, and the data they’ve collected will help inform scientists and the local community about the health of the reef and help make sense of how our ocean is changing.

    José was enthusiastic about our work and impressed with the resources we supplied to improve understanding among civil servants of the importance of sustainable resource management. We agreed that this survey is essential to learn what species are present here, so we can map out how to best manage these natural resources to ensure they endure for many years to come.

    “We are now spending more and more time fishing, and catching less and less,” José said. “We need to explore other ways of making a living ­ perhaps tourism. But we [fishermen] need to be able to cater for the tourist’s needs; this is something we cannot do right now.”

    Atauru’s coral reef system is under threat from both unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices. Use of fish poisons such as the derris plant ­ whose roots contain chemicals that stun the fish ­ in time ends up killing the reef. Guerreiro agreed that this work is very important and remarked on how delicate the marine ecosystem is: “Everything works together. The little critter on the reef, often unnoticed by many, is very important to ensure that corals flourish.”

    The next day, the fish team began surveying the northeast section of the island. Meanwhile, as part of our community engagement program I met with the sub-district administrator’s secretary to discuss the research and the future benefits it will bring to the community.

    “Knowledgeable people come in different forms, scientist and illiterates, but if they work together, we can better understand what is happening to our reef,” he said.

    “We need scientists to help us make sense of things. What we currently do may not be sustainable, so we need scientists to help us to see what … we need to stop doing, or do in a different way, to ensure that we can continue to get fish and that the ocean continues as bountiful as our grandfather told us it was generations ago.”

    Rui Pinto is the policy manager for CI-Timor-Leste. The <http://www.usctsp.org/>Coral Triangle Support Partnership is a collaboration between CI, WWF and The Nature Conservancy and the six national governments of the Coral Triangle. This is the first half of a two-part blog; stay tuned for the second part early next week.

-SOURCE: CI Blog

News

Timor-Leste needs to establish sea and airports for fishery

      Minister for Agriculture and Fishery (MAFP) Mariano, Asanam Sabino said to support the quantity of infrastructure in the country the Government needed to establish the sea and airports for fishery. "We need quantity of private sector but the infrastructure should support it like sea and airports as we need to export fresh fish to Singapore and Japan", Asanami said. Asanami added that, Timor-Leste needed to establish the sea port and airports to export fresh fish to international markets as Timor-Leste was also rich of fishes in the sea.

SOURCE: ETAN

Minister Teme visits Oe-cusse Sea Port

      Minister for State Administration and Territorial Management (ESTATAL), Jorge da Concecao Teme has held a visit to Oe-Cusse Sea Port to take a look closer at the construction of the port. According to TVTL [Timorese Public TV) news reporting, the construction of the port has reached 90% and it can be used for two ships at once.The Oe-Cusse Sea Port is financially funded and is constructed by the Government of Japan.

SOURCE: ETAN