Díli, July 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Japan's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ikuina Akiko, announced on Thursday the signing of an agreement with Timor-Leste to provide scholarships for human resource development.
“Tonight, we are pleased to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the Human Resource Development Scholarship Project. We intend to make significant progress in supporting human resource development for the future of Timor-Leste and also in strengthening relations between Japan and Timor-Leste,” said Ikuina Akiko.
The Japanese deputy minister was speaking to journalists at the end of a meeting with Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão after landing in Dili for her first official visit to the country.
Regarding the meeting with the Timorese head of government, Ikuina Akiko explained that it served to exchange views on “efforts to give new impetus to the strengthening of bilateral relations”.
“I recognise that Timor-Leste, located on a strategic sea route linking the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, is becoming increasingly important in today’s international community, and I reaffirmed my intention to strengthen cooperation with Timor-Leste,” she told journalists at the Government Palace in Dili.
The deputy minister also congratulated Timor-Leste on its full accession to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), scheduled for October, and expressed her commitment to continue cooperating in “institutional administrative capacity building, infrastructure development, industrial diversification, health care, as well as agriculture”.
In terms of infrastructure, Japan has made financial contributions to the refurbishment of the Guido Valadares National Hospital, the country's main hospital, including the construction of a new building for paediatric and intensive care units, and to the development and expansion of the airport.
“We also addressed regional and international issues with a view to maintaining and strengthening a free and open international order based on the rule of law. To address these challenges, we reaffirmed our commitment to work together with Timor-Leste, a country with which we share fundamental values and principles,” added the Japanese deputy minister.
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