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I am very pleased to take part in this Portuguese-Timorese entrepreneurial luncheon.

As you are all aware, East Timor has a large capital of affection amongst the Portuguese and it is also this warmth that I would like to bring forward here.

The economic future of East Timor appears, today, more cheerful than ever. The National Strategic Development Plan for the next 20 years aims to turn East Timor into an average income country. The expectations for the exploit of the Timorese hydrocarbon reserves open, in effect, a horizon of hope that must be preserved. For the Timorese, the challenge will be to use this wealth efficiently and to everyone’s benefit, including the future generations. .The growth rates achieved in the latter years, in excess of 11 per cent, suggest that East Timor is on the correct path and that the economy is fully viable and ready for development.

All of Portugal, State and Civil Society, have endeavoured to provide their best help towards the development of East Timor, whether in Good Governance, in areas such as Defence, Security, Justice and the Media, or in the social sector, in areas such as Education, Health, and Eradicating Poverty, or yet in several areas of the productive sector.

The thousands of Portuguese that have taken part in aid programmes for the development of East Timor do so with a missionary spirit. I have received many reports of satisfactory experiences in East Timor, where many intend to return.

This participation includes the State, non-governmental organizations, institutions connected to the Church, as well as entrepreneurial initiatives. This effort in cooperation has become, anyway, a way of life for many Portuguese who have fallen for the Timorese land.

Thus both the direct and the many indirect results of Portugal’s contribution for the development of East Timor are a motive for justifiable pride.

Portugal’s weight in Timor’s investment and external trade is, however, still minute. Geographical distance is no help. But the cultural proximity and mutual trust are indeed very real. Opportunities exist and I am certain that, within the framework of the Strategic Development Plan, they will tend to multiply. It is important to find these out and use them to the best advantage, for mutual benefit.

East Timor, which is the only member of CPLP in Asia, could well assume in the future a relevant position as a platform for the establishment of Portuguese companies interested in the vast market comprising the ASEAN member countries.

Portugal, driven as it is for the internationalization of its economy, can find in East Timor a bridge for its relationship with Southeast Asia, where it left unique ancestral roots and a memory that is very propitious to establishing trade and investment links.

Mister Minister,

I sincerely hope that the Portuguese-Timorese entrepreneurial seminar that was held this morning under your sponsorship, and for which organization I thank you, will allow setting up ever deeper and consistent contacts and bilateral links, overcoming the physical distance that separates us and taking advantage of our close and special friendship.

Allow me a final word to the Portuguese companies present here. Your presence here today is a signal of your commitment to this People and to this economy. I am well aware that not all investments have resulted favourably but, by what you have already done, you have contributed irreplaceably towards the strengthening of the strategic partnership between Portugal and Timor. I believe that your strategic vision on the future of this People and their economy will benefit your companies.

I hope that your example may bring other Portuguese protagonists to Timor and to this region.