Timor Leste foreign minister to visit Manila for bilateral talks this week

Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres will arrive on Thursday, February 21, for a two-day official visit to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Guterres will hold bilateral talks with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario during the visit, the DFA said in its advisory.

Foreign Minister Guterres’s official visit is a strong indication of the interest of both the Philippines and Timor-Leste to expand and enhance bilateral relations specifically in the areas of technical cooperation, human resource development, and education, the DFA said.

Timor-Leste, the only other Catholic country in the southeast Asian region, is seeking to be a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Philippines was among the countries that helped it transition into an independent country.

Minister Guterres’s previous visit to the Philippines was in January 2007 as a delegate to the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu City when he was Deputy Prime Minister of Timor-Leste.-Interaksyon (February 19, 2013 10:04AM)