Speeches

Speech of the Vice-Minister of Development of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste at the Sixteenth World Tourism Organization General Assembly, Dakar, Senegal

Mr. Chairman of the World Tourism Organization General Assembly
Mr. Secretary General
Dear Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great honor to be here addressing this General Assembly as a representative of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.

Your vote, confirming Timor-Leste as a WTO full member, happens just over three years after the international recognition of the Independence of Timor-Leste in May 2002. Such a small gap between the Independence of a State and its membership in this Organization is certainly new in WTO history.

This action demonstrates the commitment and the feeling of the Timor-Leste Government, that tourism can, and will be, a tool for poverty alleviation, job creation and a way of promoting social welfare and economic growth.

Timor-Leste is undergoing a reconstruction and development process. The recent past was difficult and hard, but in Timor-Leste we are all strongly confident and committed towards building a better future. Raising Timor-Leste’s tourism to quality-level standards is one of our goals!

Since Independence, many of the countries here represented, contributed as development partners in the reconstruction of Timor-Leste. Without you, climbing so many steps, in so many sectors, in such few years, would be an impossible mission. I am referring to sectors such as Education, Finance, Justice, State Administration, Fisheries or Agriculture.

We thank you for your contribution and for believing in a better future for Timor-Leste.

Everyone says, and we also believe in this, that Tourism is the world’s Peace Industry it is a poverty reducer, a job creator for young and older people and for specialized and non-skilled staff. Tourism is a developer of the non-urban areas providing local population with access to modern and basic infrastructures. Tourism has also impacts across the entire economic sector.

It seems clear to me that tourism should be put at the service of development and should be used, by the development partners, as a modern and innovative tool for international cooperation.

In Timor-Leste, some development partners are using tourism for their cooperation actions, such as Portugal, Thailand and Macau (China). But the needs go beyond the support given so far.

It is urgent to attract more development partners to work in the field of tourism.

It is urgent to make a call to aid agencies to include tourism in their cooperation program portfolio.

It is urgent that international organizations start considering tourism as a way to achieve many of the millennium development goals.

Mr. Chairman of the General Assembly
Mr. Secretary General
Ladies and Gentlemen

I would like to assure you that Timor-Leste intends to be an active member of this Organization and beyond what the annual membership fee represents in the smaller National tourism budget we see this fee as an investment, not as a cost.

I would like to call on the WTO to be more, even if it is already, active and persuasive with Governments and Aid Agencies in order to raise more funds for actions and programs in tourism through international cooperation. Development also goes through tourism.

At last, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to say that Timor-Leste is open for tourism and for business.

Sejam bem-vindos a Timor-Leste! Soyez bien venus à Timor-Leste!