Timor-Leste: From Conflict to Reconciliation, Democracy, and Regional Integration 9789815104141

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TIMOR-LESTE

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The ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (formerly Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) is an autonomous organization established in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are grouped under Regional Economic Studies (RES), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). The Institute is also home to the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC), the Singapore APEC Study Centre, and the Temasek History Research Centre (THRC). ISEAS Publishing, an established academic press, has issued more than 2,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publishing works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world.

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Singapore Lecture 8 December 2022

TIMOR-LESTE From Conflict to Reconciliation, Democracy, and Regional Integration

José Ramos-Horta

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First published in Singapore in 2023 by ISEAS Publishing 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119614 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo­copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. © 2023 ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Name(s): Ramos-Horta, José, author. Title: Timor-Leste: from conflict to reconciliation, democracy, and regional integration / by José Ramos-Horta. Description: Singapore: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 2023. | Series: Singapore lecture series, ISSN 0129-1912; 45. Identifiers: ISBN 978-981-5014-13-4 (soft cover) | ISBN 978-981-5014-14-1 (E-book PDF) Subjects: LCSH: Timor-Leste—Politics and government. | Timor-Leste—Foreign relations. | ASEAN. Classification: LCC DS501 I597 no. 45 Typeset by International Typesetters Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by Mainland Press Pte Ltd

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CONTENTS I

Opening Remarks

II Timor-Leste: From Conflict to Reconciliation, Democracy, and Regional Integration

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Vivian Balakrishnan 1

José Ramos-Horta 5

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I Opening Remarks Vivian Balakrishnan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore

Your Excellency Dr José Ramos-Horta, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, 1. Welcome to the 45th Singapore Lecture. In case you have not noticed, this is the first (Singapore) Lecture we have had since COVID-19, and it is the first Singapore Lecture by a TimorLeste leader. We are deeply honoured to have His Excellency the President deliver the lecture. 2. The President needs no introduction. It is not often you get a chance to listen to a true independence fighter. He has been the President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, (and) President the second time round again, but I think my favourite description is what he told me at lunch — that a certain prominent Minister described him in his earlier days as an “unemployed agitator”. Clearly, those years as an “unemployed agitator” have borne fruit, not just for you, but for your nation. This is a man who has quite literally put his life on the line for his country. We were just discussing earlier that you have taken at least two bullets, literally, for the country. Fortunately, we are very glad that he made a full recovery and continues to contribute to the country. His two key

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interests, if I may try to summarize, are national reconciliation, both within the country and in the neighbourhood – I am sure you will have more to say about that later — and of course, his efforts at uplifting the plight for people who are less well-off and to overcome the scourge of poverty. Mr President, it is a great delight and a real honour for all of us to have you here with us. 3. I also need to say a few words about Singapore-Timor-Leste relations. I was very touched when President Ramos-Horta met my President (Halimah Yacob) and Prime Minister (Lee Hsien Loong) earlier today. You reminded us that when a certain big country annexed Timor-Leste and a vote for Resolution 3485 came to the UN General Assembly, Singapore was the only member of ASEAN that abstained on that vote. Subsequently, through his efforts, after the referendum on independence for Timor-Leste, Singapore was among the first countries to contribute to the deployment of the International Force East Timor (INTERFET) in 1999. Our servicemen were there all the way from 1999 till 2012. We deployed medical teams, combat peacekeepers, logistics support, equipment. The President would know that over the years, there were many Singaporeans who have become committed friends and supporters of Timor-Leste. 4. When we say that Singapore remains committed to contribute to Timor-Leste’s future growth and development, and that we now mark the 20th anniversary of our diplomatic relations, these are sincere words. We have been with you since the beginning, and we will continue to walk this journey with you. More than 800 Timorese officials have attended a variety of training programmes under the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP) over the years, including (in) areas like economic development, finance, public administration, and urban development. Earlier this morning, we also announced the “Singapore-Timor-Leste ASEAN Readiness

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Support” (STARS) Package, specifically targeted at enhancing Timor-Leste’s capacity as it takes this final lap to membership of ASEAN. 5. As a relatively young country ourselves, Singapore knows first-hand the value of strong, consistent, reliable friendships and the importance of leveraging each other’s strengths for mutual support and prosperity. I would add, perhaps just as important, a deep reservoir of strategic trust between our two nations. It is on that note of friendship and hope that we look forward to the future achievements of Timor-Leste and to listen to Your Excellency the President, Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste. Thank you all. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the President.

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II TIMOR-LESTE From Conflict to Reconciliation, Democracy, and Regional Integration José Ramos-Horta President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

Thank you for the kind invitation extended to me to speak with you here today. I don’t have a real, prepared speech. Some notes here. I will try to be as brief as possible, so that we have more time for conversation. Before I continue, I would like to say, some of the Members of Government are here. My Timor-Leste Minister of Foreign Affairs is here. Our Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs and Development, and our Ambassador, Director of ASEAN Accession Secretariat. And the many members of our National Parliament, who are here. They are actually in the front row, and the Head of our Trade Invest, and some of my staff from the Presidency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they’re all here. And I have to say, I don’t know whether they are here, I have three special guests. imi hamrik The three special guests. The lady, she is chefe de aldeia, meaning she is the head of the village where I live. Very important lady. Not very happy with me because she convenes meetings, and I rarely show up. And the second, in the middle, he is, what we call in Timor-Leste, Guarda Civil. He looks after our building. My residential area, which private. And, then the other one, youngest, he is from a

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village somewhere in Aileu, far away. And neither of them ever travel in a plane or outside Timor. So I asked them whether they would like to travel. They are very happy. And so. And also, the other delegation, we have representative of the private sector of Timor-Leste who are here. The topic I proposed is, I guess very relevant one for our region, for the world. “From Conflict to Reconciliation, Democracy, and Regional Integration”. And all protocols observed, I shall go straight into the theme of my presentation. Thank you, Minister for taking time from your obviously very busy schedule to be here. I will try to sort of figuratively speaking lay out on a wall a 3D canvas of painting of the many aspects and layers of TimorLeste, the challenges and achievements of the last 20 years, and the prospects for the future. Let me drop in also some key words which will immediately zoom us, zoom you back in time so that you understand also that Timor-Leste, although in the past, forgotten, isolated in the region, it was always part of the region, in the sense that it impacted by events, bad or good. I cite words like Dien Bienh Phu, Tet Offensive, B-52 Bombers, carpet bomb in Vietnam, Cambodia, Khmer Rouge Killing Fields, the trial for communist insurgencies, Indo-China, US humiliating escape from Saigon, and the words “dominoes falling”. The year 1975, when things fall apart. That is the title of a book, by a great Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe. You know, I first read the book years ago in New York. I bought it at Barnes & Noble, my favourite spot to go on Sunday or Saturday. Browsing the books, have a coffee. And I found this book. It was, I mentioned it just because of the title, Things Fall Apart. When things fall apart in Timor-Leste, in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asians had

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known extreme violence through the 60’s and 70’s. Not forgetting World War 2. But salvation came to, at least to Cambodia, when the Khmer Rouge was routed by an alliance of Vietnamese and anti-Khmer Rouge forces led by Hun Sen. Better times came, a period of impressive growth followed the end of the Cambodian War. Tiger economies emerged, and they were the envy of many. But the 1997 financial crisis spread throughout Southeast Asia, in South Korea, and with it social and political turmoil. Here I have to make a pause to say the following. In ‘95, May ‘95, I was interviewed by Richard Roth, diplomatic liaison CNN. That was the first time I had some significant time in CNN. Twenty-four minutes programme. In the course of the interview, I told Richard Roth, within two to three years, so remember that’s May ‘95, I told Richard Roth, within two to three years, the Suharto regime will fall. Over the weight of financial crisis, mismanagement and increasing illegitimacy of the regime because of corruption. That was May ‘95. May ‘98, Suharto did fall. Because of the economic crisis. Of course, at that time, ‘95, Richard Roth interviewed the Indonesian Ambassador to the UN permanent rep, a very refined gentleman, Wisnumurti. He looked like, you know, a Javanese aristocrat. But he was not very eloquent speaker. In that interview, he was asked, Richard Roth. Richard Roth said, “Mr Ambassador, Mr Ramos-Horta said within two to three years the Suharto regime will fall”. And Wisnumurti said, “Well, Mr Ramos-Horta is always too optimistic”. Which was a very funny way of answering. Well, the financial crisis as you know, spread to Southeast Asia and South Korea, with it the social and political turmoil. In South Korea, Kim Dae-Jung was elected president in 1997. And there our democracy began in that country, our extraordinary people.

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One day, sometime in ‘99, sitting in a hotel room in Seoul, assisted by a friend, Professor Han Jung Kim, I wrote the letter to the Oslo Nobel Peace Committee nominating Kim Dae-Jung for the Nobel Peace Prize. Kim Dae-Jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000, for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation of Korea and Japan. Normally the Nobel Committee doesn’t invite previous winners to the event. Unheard of. But both the Nobel Committee and Kim Dae-Jung invite me for the Gala Award Ceremony on 10th December 2000. Although about the same year, as you know, the Suharto Orde Baru surrendered power to, in the face of massive student demonstrations, they opened the floodgates for democracy in Indonesia. Of course, will cause mayhem. It was, what we could say a caesarean, a delivery of democracy. And this raised concerns about the risk of fragmentation of the Archipelago. They turned out to be unfounded. Indonesia turned into democracy, a remarkable one. And the rest of the region changed for the better. Myanmar 2005‒2020 Democracy Spring was celebrated in joy by the people. The country’s economy improved. The revered leader Suu Kyi was honoured around the world. Sadly, tragically, Suu Kyi is ousted, imprisoned once again. Myanmar is plunged into the war, civil war of its turbulent history. ASEAN was stunned by the violent assault of democracy in Myanmar. Commenders should be ASEAN leaders for their dedicated effort to roll back the coup, promote all-inclusive dialogues, and end violence. What does it all mean? We continue to learn that nothing should be taken for granted. Democracies can be undone, but we also learn to be, to persevere, never to lose hope. Keep the faith. Rise in freedoms always prevail.

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Timor-Leste was a side-line issue in 1975. It was a mere footnote of the war in Southeast Asia. But nevertheless, we did not escape the effects of the Vietnam War and the domino theory effect, the dramatic events of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, where the world’s number one military power literally capitulated, sent shockwaves to the intelligence and the political communities across Southeast Asia. So, as said above, we are never free, immune from our region’s problems. We should now benefit from our region’s better times. You know, we are in the region, in the worst of the times, we’ve paid a heavy price for being in the region. Although we were not at all involved, direct or indirect, of the other problems. Now, fast forward, but if anyone familiar with 1999 violence, devastation of Timor-Leste, returning today, if you had been there, if you return today, you would be surprised with this, by the transformation in Timor-Leste. It was in May 20th 2002 midnight, when the blue flag of UN was lowered, our tri-coloured flag of red, black and yellow was hoisted. And actually we have four. It was not tri-coloured. Four. It was red, black, yellow and white. White is the star. The event was witnessed by world leaders like Secretary General Kofi Annan, heads of states, prime ministers, foreign ministers and significantly President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia came, attended the independence of Timor-Leste. Let that alone illustrate the greatness, the grandeur of a country of our society. Because separation of that nature between countries always leaves a profound wound of pride, of disappointment, and sometimes humiliation. And we know that in Europe for instance in the Balkans, in Sudan, South Sudan, but the Indonesian signs show the greater side of a society of a country. And the President attended.

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I was the emcee. Improvised emcee. Because to be frank, there was zero money for the preparations. I was appointed by Sergio de Mello the UN representative to coordinate the event. There was zero money. I lobbied for money everywhere, including Singapore. And Singapore agreed to pay for many of the printing costs and the protocol. And the one organization based in Singapore that I didn’t even approach to get some money. One financial organization also sent some money to our account in Dili. I lobbied in Australia, I lobbied in Japan. Friends of mine in LA invited me to attend a Hollywood Academy Awards. They say, “José, you come. We put you next to the Chairman of American Express and the Coca Cola. You will go back with cheques”. So off I went to the Academy Awards. Well, I didn’t come back with any cheques. I took a lot of pictures with everybody, but no cheques. So, fast forward to the event, I was the emcee. And the Ibu Mega was arriving. And we were very nervous. How the crowd would react. When you have a crowd of 100,000, you just need one person to start screaming. A bit like in a soccer match, someone starts screaming, everyone ooh. So, I spoke to the crowd as the Ibu Mega approaching, I said, “Ibu Mega is approaching, and will join us very momentarily. Let’s show respect to Ibu Mega, let’s welcome her in our best traditional hospitality”. Well, in hearing my message, the crowd erupted in loud applause for the Indonesian President. That is remarkable. The conflict had just ended. Wounds of the soul, of the heart, of the body were still there. For a crowd of 100,000 it was estimated, not a single disruption. It illustrates the extraordinary capacity of our people in celebrating what needs to be celebrated, and then the

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freedom of the country. And not put aside, but you do not allow what is ugly, what is tragic to disrupt the best, the better times. From ground zero, slowly but steadily of the past 20 years, governments, private sectors, civil society, developed and partners joined hands to manage the multiple challenges and expectations and deliver the so-called peace dividends. First, us and our international partners, to whom we credit a lot, first of the leader, the leadership of the UN under Kofi Annan, in the mobilizing capacity of the UN, World Bank, ADB, but also countries across the region from Australia to New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China and all the other ASEAN countries that contributed in different ways. For instance, Singapore, for INTERFET, they authorized the Security Council mandated international force, was probably the first major Singapore participation in an international force. But, let me also explain, you know this is not in my notes explain. For INTERFET to take place, of course, any force like of that nature, the people of the sending countries, of the receiving country, particularly, they still have to accept. So, negotiations took place behind the scenes. At that time, on the regional side, led by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He was the Coordinating Minister of Security Affairs. On Southeast Asia side was led by Dr Surin, Foreign Minister of Thailand. Thailand was Chairman of ASEAN at that time. And, it was the Indonesian side itself that call on ASEAN friends “please participate in the INTERFET”. So, we had Singapore, we had Malaysia, we had Thailand, Philippines. In South Korea, South Korea participated. But in South Korea, the authorization from the South Korean parliament passed with only one vote. It was a lady, I don’t remember her name, Member

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of Parliament of the Conservative party side, who dissented, because the Conservative party didn’t want to support the Korean involvement. So, the lady who I think now she is the Head of KOICA in Korea, she walked over to Kim Dae-Jung’s side, and resolution was passed. And of course, she was automatically fired by her party. But South Korea participated in a big way and has since been a great friend of Timor-Leste. So, that’s how INTERFET took place. With the negotiation with Indonesia, respecting the result of the referendum as was agreed in the May 5th Agreement. And they left the country with honour and dignity. And at the time, Mr Xanana Gusmão, who has unquestionable authority, fighter for 18 years, a prisoner. He came down from the hills to bid farewell to Indonesian troops leaving the country. He went to the airport. We resisted pressure to pursue justice. Justice in the retributive sense. Justice, there is retributive justice and justice that seeks the truth but also reconciliation. That’s the difference. Retributive justice in that sense is all formal justice of the victors over the vanquished. We opted instead for healing the wounds of the body and the soul, reconciled the deeply traumatized communities and simultaneously extended a hand of friendship to and reconciliation with Indonesia. Indonesian leaders and people seized the moment in history when action of vision and political courage can change history. With courage and statesmanship, they responded with a hand of friendship. I can state without hesitation that there are no two countries, neighbouring countries in the entire Asia region, that can enjoy better relations than between us and Indonesia.

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In any given day, a thousand Timorese travel into Indonesia. Some illegally crossing the border there. And most legally. Particularly during COVID restrictions, people still crossed illegally. And with very little consequences. I remember few months ago I helped a family in the border region, very close to the border, rebuilding their home. Very humble, barefoot, poor people. And, the lady was complaining, because she said, “Oh, two weeks ago I went to the other side. I came back, the police arrested me”. And she was very angry. “And I have done this many times, they have never arrested me”. I asked her, “Which border did you use?” She said, “I used the goat track, on the dalan bibi nian. The track, the bush track that the goats use”. I said, “Well, of course they didn’t catch you before, they caught you this time”. She was very angry. “They took everything from me”. And she had a bag of things, she went to the shop. Anyway, traditionally for centuries, that’s how people lived. There is a lot of affinity between the two sides of the border. We began to build the institutions of a state when none existed. But how you build institutions of the state? The UN was there only for two years and so we couldn’t expect the UN to deliver with us a modern functioning civil administration. Sometimes the Security Council looked more at the cost than what is the purpose of a Security Council mission. Which is understandable because the P5 are the ones who pay the most for each Chapter 7 mandated Security Council Peace Mission. But, if you want to be member of P5, you have to also have the prestige and also the cost. But some of the P5, they like only the prestige, they don’t like the cost. So, for Timor, authorized two years. Once in the Security Council Mission, I asked the Security Council members. I said,

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I told them, “I understand that none of you ever ran a takeaway Chinese eating place in Manhattan”. Obviously, none of you, the Security Council members engaged in a takeaway business. But, let me tell you the following. And I made up a story. But it was only to illustrate the ridiculousness of the Security Council’s decisions. I said, “Listen. Do you know how long does it take to have a little Chinese takeaway business in Manhattan? The returning profit after your investment”. Of course they were silent, they’ve never done that business before. I said it’d take at least two‒three years. I made up that figure. And, “do you want a nicer building, a state building in two years?” Actually after that, a friend, an American woman told me, “You know, it takes longer than two‒three years. At least five years before you start getting some money back”. The ambassador of Uganda at that time in Security Council when I had lunch with Security Council members, he said this. He said, “I walked in when I heard you talk about comparing the Security Council Mandate with a takeaway”. And he said, “You are so right. Before I heard you, I was decided not to support extension of Security Council Mission. But when you mentioned this, I said yes, it’s really ridiculous”. So, the first mandate was two years, that was authorized by the instead of five years. Please mandate. But today, 20 years later, Timor had changed dramatically. In 2009, we launched Fundo de Desenvolvimento do Capital Humano which offer scholarships or advance studies in science, technology, economics, politics, administration, law, medicine in selected universities in Southeast Asia, Australia, Portugal and so on. Twenty years ago, Timor-Leste was literally managed by expatriates. Our burned-out city was literal with new wide station wagons with the not subtle giant UN markings on the door. You walk into a ministry or department,

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you would have seen dozens of highly paid foreign advisors doing line work. Today, wherever you go, you will see young polyglot Timorese with the best degrees obtained in our national universities and in some of the best academic and professional institutes around the world. At independence in 2002, we had 19 medical doctors. Average life expectancy at birth was less than 60 years. Today we have 1,200 medical doctors, thanks to a programme agreed to in 2005 by our government and the Government of Cuba. They trained 700 Timorese medical students in Cuba and 400 in newly created medical schools in Timor-Leste. Newly at that time, 2005. Today life expectancy stands at 69.2 for men, and 71 for women. In 2002, malaria was rampant, and a major cause of debilitation, death as you know. But it has been eradicated, malaria. We are still struggling with dengue, but we are now with two experiments for elimination of dengue. A group from Imperial College of London and Italy and another group experimented with treatment called haw bark and they are very certain that we can eliminate dengue within five years. Leprosy has been eliminated in TimorLeste some years ago. Our sovereign fund which created in 2005 is rated the best managed in Asia and 3rd best in the world. We started off with 250 million dollars in 2006. If it were not for the war in Ukraine, not of our responsibility and the crash of the stock market, our sovereign fund would be today around 19 billion or more. It was 19 billion or more. We lost a bit less than 2 billion during the crash of the market following the Ukraine war. We have, for most of you probably do not know, we have a sovereign fund, initially all of it invested in US treasury bonds. In 2009, we revised the law to allow for diversification. Most of it still stays in US treasury bonds, but several billion are in

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other European issued bonds, and in the financial market. From the investments of the petroleum funds, since the law authorized us to do, from that alone, we got return of 7 billion dollars from our investments. Of course, we know you lose money in stock market crash when you join everybody else panicking and you sell. So, the losing is temporary, is academic. It can recover. I’m sure country like Singapore and others are better familiar with that. We have no political violence. We don’t have radical, religious, political extremist groups. No armed bank robbery. No drug cartels. No organized crime. Well, no organized crime, sometimes they say maybe because we generally are very much disorganized country. So, even our criminals are not very efficient in …, don’t get organized. I don’t know why we don’t have organized crime. Or maybe they are too selfish, they want to be part of any… So, homicide rate is 3.9 per 100,000 people. Total of 49 fatalities from sporadic fighting between youth groups and domestic violence. No reported case whatsoever of violence defined as anti-movement, anti-European or anti-Chinese. The US travel advisory for Timor is lowest at level 1. I haven’t checked this in months, but I don’t know whether still the same. We are 98 per cent Catholic with about 50,000 Protestants, a smaller Muslim community. All religions are treated equally. Diplomatic passports are issued for leaders of the three main religions. Financial assistance, probably the only country in the world where financial assistance is allocated to each major religion group on proportional basis. I know that Germany, in the tax system, for taxpayers, percentage is already allocated to churches. I don’t know whether they still have that. So, maybe I will say, maybe not, Timor is not the only one. But we allocated it through the budget.

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On the external front we enjoy positive relations with all regional and global powers, some of which are not friendly related to each other. But we are friendly to all of them. With Australia we resolved our differences of the maritime boundaries, settling it in 2018 in the framework of UNCLOS. Our two countries enjoy a special relationship rooted in history and values of democracy and solidarity. Resolution of the maritime boundaries dispute paved the way for the development of Greater Sunrise gas field, and other oil and gas potential in the Timor Sea. We overcome the risk of the statement by Woodside CEO, Mrs Meg O’Neill, that the statement, that the development of Greater Sunrise with the pipeline to Timor-Leste is technically doable. That’s what, I’m not quoting, that’s what she said. In regards cost, but the only concern she expressed was the cost. Well, in regards cost I believe that Timor-Leste can put together the required amount of investment in a very short period of time. Now that the developments since independence, Timor-Leste’s defence and police forces have served in UN peace operations in Kosovo, Lebanon, South Lebanon. We had a small army engineer unit that was attached to the Portuguese army engineer battalion, and they spent two years in South Sudan, in Southern Lebanon. We have observers in South Sudan. Timor-Leste electoral experts participated and led elections, election technical preparation and voter registration in Guinea-Bissau, in São Tome and Central African Republic. Our defence forces are engaged with and greatly benefit from active relationship with defence forces of Indonesia, Australia, Portugal and the US. Our US army engineer groups stationed in Timor-Leste for the past ten years provides very valuable training of our army engineers, and they contribute generally in rehabilitation schools, health clinics and rural roads. We also have an ongoing defence programme with Japan and Republic

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of Korea. Some military people did navy training in Japan. I told them when I visit, and I told them, “If you survive four years of training in Japan, I will be very impressed”. And actually they survived and completed the training. We have established embassies in all ASEAN capitals, plus in Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Canberra, Wellington, and soon in Delhi. In addition, we have embassies in Lisbon, Brussel, London, Vatican City, Washington, and Brasilia. In Africa we have maintained a full-fledged embassy in Maputo, covering Southern Africa. I hope I didn’t forget any embassy. Timor-Leste is a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. We also have had two decades of active partnership with World Bank, IFC, Asia Development Bank, the IMF. And I have only words of appreciation for the steady and continuous support. On the investment, on the economic front, a lot is happening, particularly in continuing of developing of our infrastructure but also in attracting foreign investment. Soon, I hope we will have at least three submarine cables come into Timor-Leste. One from Australia, one from Alor Indonesia Island, and one actually from, going through very near Dili, on the way to New Zealand. And there will be a cable come into Timor-Leste. We’ll be served at least by three submarine cables, and one fiber optic, from Atambua to our border. Just a few days ago, we inaugurated our first PPP (Public-Private Partnership) involving our sovereign fund, IFC and the French group Bolloré. It is a modern deep-water port, completely automated that will be, will facilitate in normally our international trade. There are other investments, again, recently, the Edward Ong Family Group launched the groundbreaking of a five-star resort in Timor-Leste, estimated budget cost of 800 million dollars. The work will start, already starting in ground preparation and the construction actually will be starting in April, will be ready by within three years as according to Mr Ed Ong.

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Accession to World Trade Organization is underway, hopefully half of next year 2023 will be member of World Trade Organization. We very much welcome the ASEAN leaders’ announcement recently that Timor-Leste is welcomed in principle as a member, as 11th member of ASEAN. We are going to work actively with ASEAN Secretariat and others to accelerate the preparation. We are very grateful to Singapore for the assurance of continued support, the preparation of Timor-Leste human resources. Some ten years ago, to end my this quick note, remarks, some ten years ago, I was travelling to Baucau, the second town. Timor-Leste is very hilly, for those who don’t know. Seventy per cent of the country is just mountains. And on an area called Subaun, very steep, I saw a Chinese trader. Obviously, he was not a Timorese Chinese. You can distinguish, you look at the Timorese Chinese, and you look at someone come from Mainland, from a distance you know who is who. A Timorese Chinese would no longer pedal a bicycle 130 km selling plastics. He was carrying this enormous amount of cargo. At least looked like 50 kilos, selling door to door, village to village on the way to Manatuto. I thought, he cannot be a Timorese Chinese, and I thought he had to be an enterprising, extremely hardworking new arrival. He reminded me of my childhood living in remote areas of the island, having as neighbour a lovely Timorese Chinese, managing a little shop selling some rice, some flour, cooking oil, matches, salt, sugar. There is much talk about growing Chinese influence in Timor-Leste. Well, measuredly, yes. The Chinese are outpacing everyone. And partly because, you know, our American friends, our Australian friends, European friends, I don’t see any of them selling shoes, plastic bottles and soft drinks in the streets of Dili. And we don’t see them running. They are very impatient for inefficiencies. The Chinese are very patient. They go to a government department,

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they don’t mind waiting there all day long. And traditionally our slow bureaucrat probably is not there, probably had not returned from lunch. And so, you have to come back the next day. The Chinese are very patient. In the meantime, he starts conversation with many in here, and then he gets his licence. The Europeans, Americans will get very upset, very stressed. And they don’t have the patience for situations like East Timor. That, you know, is a simplification of the problem. From that day some 15 years ago, from the humble Chinese merchant on a bicycle on a dusty road towards Manatuto, selling mostly affordable plastic utensils, to today, China’s construction companies are full partners operating in Timor-Leste. We have built a country from the ashes of ’99 to a vibrant democracy with free media. Very open, tolerant, inclusive society. We have made tremendous progress in infrastructure, education of our people. We at the time, 2002, we didn’t have a dollar of our own. In the last ten years, Timor-Leste holds billions of US treasury bonds and other government issued bonds and equities. We are actually investors in US. We are investors in Europe. By purchasing the government issued bonds, I’m critical of the way our Central Bank and others have been deciding on the investment of our petroleum fund. I saw the list. Besides US treasury bonds, all the other investments are in European issued bonds. And I said, might as well you invest in nursing homes in Europe. And you will invest in anaemic economies of less than one per cent growth. Why, if we want to invest in Europe, the best investment would be in nursing homes. I apologize, I’m being sarcastic with my European brothers and sisters. So, I have urged our government Central Bank to look at investments in the Asian emerging markets.

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I said we will come, ASEAN leaders’ unanimous decision to welcome us as full member and we will work with you. Preferable is that we join in 2023 during Indonesia’s term as Chairman of ASEAN. We will not in 2023, not in 2025, not in 2030. We will be perfect. Perfection is only in heaven. And I assume that ASEAN leaders do not have the ambition to turn ASEAN into heaven on earth. We should be able to join ASEAN effectively with our imperfections, our inefficiencies. I thank you and God bless you.

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José Ramos-Horta National positions – Member, Council of State, Advisory Body to the President of the Republic of Timor-Leste (2012‒) – Member, National Council on Maritime Boundary Delimitation (2016‒) – President of the Republic (2007‒2012) – Prime Minister, Minister of Defence (2006‒2007) – Senior Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (2002‒2006) – Cabinet Member, United Nations Transition y for East Timor – UNTAET (2000‒2002) – Minister for Foreign Affairs and Information, in the first Govt proclaimed in December 1975 following Timor-Leste’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence, International Spokesperson of the Resistance (1975‒1999) International positions (past, current) – President, World Movement for Democracy, HQ Washington, elected July 2020 – Chair, Scientific Council of the think-tank TIGER – Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research (www.tiger.edu.pl), Kozminski University, Warsaw, Poland (January 2021‒2030) – Board Member, World Leadership Alliance, Madrid (2012‒) – Member, Global Leadership Foundation, London, UK – Member, High Level Board on Mediation, with UN SecretaryGeneral (2017‒2019) – External Advisor to the President of the UN General Assembly (2017‒2018)

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– Commissioner, Global Commission on Drug Policy, Geneva (2017‒) – Chair, High Level Independent Panel on UN Peace Operations, appointed by the UN Secretary-General, UNHQ, NY (November 2014‒2015) – Co-Chair, Independent Commission on Multilateralism, International Peace Institute, NY (2014‒2016) – Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Integrated Peace Building Mission in Guinea-Bissau (West Africa) (January 2013‒June 2014) Academic – Member, Honorary Advisory Council of the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard University (2012‒) – Diploma, Executive Program, Leaders in Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (1998) – Senior Associate Member, International Relations, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford (1987) – Master of Arts in Peace Studies, Antioch University, Ohio, USA (1984) – Advanced Diploma, Public Relations, Centro Internacional de Marketing (1970‒1974) – Completed courses in Public International Law in The Hague Academy of International Law, and in International Human Rights Law in The International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg (1983) – Doctor Honoris Causa from universities in Australia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Brazil, Portugal, USA – Founding President, Diplomacy and Human Rights Program, Law Faculty, University of New South Wales, Sydney (since 1990)

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– Visiting Professor, University of New South Wales, Sydney (since 1996) – Distinguished Visiting Professor, Victoria University, Melbourne (since 2007) – Visiting Professor, Ewha Womans University, Seoul (2007‒2012) Membership in major international organisations Languages Tetum, Portuguese, English, French and Spanish Major awards – – – – – – –

Nobel Peace Prize (1996) Companion of the Order of Australia (2015) Ordem de Timor-Leste (2012) Ordem Dom Boaventura (2006) Ordem de Liberdade, Portugal (1998) Ordem Dom Infante, Portugal (2011) Orders from Brazil, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde

Books and other writings – Words of Hope, Speeches, Essays, Longueville Media, Sydney (2018) – Where the Sun on Rising Sees First, co-authored with Raquel Belli, LIDEL, Lisbon (2014) – The Lost World of Timor-Leste, with Patricia Vickers-Rich and Peter Tussler, LIDEL, Lisbon (2017) – FUNU: The Unfinished Saga of East Timor, Red Sea Press, Trenton, NJ, USA (1987)

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– Timor-Leste: Amanha em Dili, Dom Quixote, Lisbon (1994) – A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq, Thomas Cushman (Editor), with Christopher Hitchens, José Ramos-Horta and others, University of California Press (2005) Written on international affairs for the International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street International Magazine, Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, The Hill, etc.

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THE SINGAPORE LECTURE SERIES

Inaugural Singapore Lecture 14 October 1980 The Invisible Hand in Economics and Politics by MILTON FRIEDMAN Professor of Economics, University of Chicago 2nd Singapore Lecture 30 October 1981 American Foreign Policy: A Global View by HENRY KISSINGER U.S. Secretary of State 3rd Singapore Lecture 2 December 1982 Peace and East-West Relations by GISCARD D’ESTAING President of France 4th Singapore Lecture 10 November 1983 The Soviet Union: Challenges and Responses as Seen from the European Point of View by HELMUT SCHMIDT Chancellor of the Republic of Germany 5th Singapore Lecture 8 November 1984 The Future of the Western Alliance and Its Implications for Asia by JOSEPH M.A.H. LUNS Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

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27 6th Singapore Lecture 5 December 1985 Deficits, Debts, and Demographics: Three Fundamentals Affecting Our Long-Term Economic Future by PETER G. PETERSON Chairman of the Blackstone Group 7th Singapore Lecture 25 November 1986 Trends in the International Financial System by RAYMOND BARRE Prime Minister of France 8th Singapore Lecture 27 November 1987 The Challenge of Change in the Asia-Pacific Region by BOB HAWKE Prime Minister of Australia 9th Singapore Lecture 14 December 1988 Regionalism, Globalism and Spheres of Influence: ASEAN and the Challenge of Change into the 21st Century by MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD Prime Minister of Malaysia 10th Singapore Lecture 15 October 1989 Trade Outlook: Globalization or Regionalization by BRIAN MULRONEY Prime Minister of Canada 11th Singapore Lecture 3 April 1991 International Economic Developments by R.F.M. LUBBERS Prime Minister of the Netherlands

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28 12th Singapore Lecture 4 January 1992 U.S. Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region: Meeting the Challenges of the Post Cold-War Era by GEORGE BUSH President of the United States of America 13th Singapore Lecture 8 September 1994 India and the Asia-Pacific: Forging a New Relationship by P.V. NARASIMHA RAO Prime Minister of India 14th Singapore Lecture 17 January 1996 Australia, Asia and the New Regionalism by PAUL KEATING Prime Minister of Australia 15th Singapore Lecture 14 January 1997 Reforms for the New Era of Japan and ASEAN: For a Broader and Deeper Partnership by RYUTARO HASHIMOTO Prime Minister of Japan 16th Singapore Lecture 6 March 1997 South and Southern Africa into the Next Century by NELSON R. MANDELA President of the Republic of South Africa 17th Singapore Lecture 30 November 1999 China and Asia in the New Century by ZHU RONGJI Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China

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29 18th Singapore Lecture 14 February 2000 Global Values: The United Nations and the Rule of Law in the 21st Century by Kofi A. Annan Secretary-General of the United Nations 19th Singapore Lecture 27 November 2000 Peace on the Korean Peninsula and East Asia by KIM DAE-JUNG President of the Republic of Korea 20th Singapore Lecture 14 January 2002 Japan and ASEAN in East Asia: A Sincere and Open Partnership by JUNICHIRO KOIZUMI Prime Minister of Japan 21st Singapore Lecture 9 April 2002 India’s Perspectives on ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific Region by ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE Prime Minister of India 22nd Singapore Lecture 6 July 2002 EU-Asia Relations: Sharing Diversity in an Inter-regional Partnership by ROMANO PRODI President of the European Commission 23rd Singapore Lecture 13 May 2003 Investments into the Future: State and Economy at the Beginning of the 21st Century by GERHARD SCHRÖDER Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

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30 24th Singapore Lecture 30 April 2004 Global Challenges in the 21st Century: A View from Chile by Ricardo Lagos President of Chile 25th Singapore Lecture 16 February 2005 Indonesia: The Challenge of Change by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono President of the Republic of Indonesia 26th Singapore Lecture 21 April 2005 Africa’s Season of Hope: The Dawn of a New Africa-Asia Partnership by thabo mvuyelwa mbeki President of the Republic of South Africa 27th Singapore Lecture 1 February 2006 Evolution of Enlightened Societies on Our Planet by A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM President of the Republic of India 28th Singapore Lecture 11 April 2006 Asia-Middle East Cooperation: Opportunities and Challenges by PRINCE suLtan bin abdul aziz al-sAud Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 29th Singapore Lecture 12 August 2008 Australia, Singapore, Our Region and the World by kevin rudd Prime Minister of Australia

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31 30th Singapore Lecture 23 October 2009 Towards New Global Partnerships: Economics, Governance, Values by JAN PETER BALKENENDE Prime Minister of the Netherlands 31st Singapore Lecture 2 June 2011 by ANGELA MERKEL Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany 32nd Singapore Lecture 13 March 2012 The Importance of Governance for Sustainable Developments by HELEN CLARK Administrator of the UN Development Programme and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand 33rd Singapore Lecture 26 July 2013 Japan and ASEAN, Always in Tandem: Towards a More Advantageous Win-Win Relationship through My “Three Arrows” by SHINZO ABE Prime Minister of Japan 34th Singapore Lecture 22 April 2014 The Future of ASEAN by HIS MAJESTY SULTAN HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH MU’IZZADDIN WADDAULAH Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam 35th Singapore Lecture 29 June 2015 Our Common Challenges: Strengthening Security in the Region by TONY ABBOTT Prime Minister of Australia

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32 36th Singapore Lecture 7 November 2015 Forging a Strong Partnership to Enhance Prosperity of Asia by Xi Jinping President of the People’s Republic of China 37th Singapore Lecture 23 November 2015 India’s Singapore Story by narendra modi Prime Minister of India 38th Singapore Lecture 30 August 2016 Strengthening Partnership for Regional Sustainable Development by tran dai quang President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 39th Singapore Lecture 24 November 2016 The Netherlands, Singapore, Our Regions, Our World: Connecting Our Common Future by mark rutte Prime Minister of the Netherlands 40th Singapore Lecture 27 March 2017 France and Singapore: Strategic Partners in a Fast-Changing World by FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE President of the French Republic 41st Singapore Lecture 21 August 2017 Turkey–Singapore Relations: Building a Smart Strategic Partnership by BİNALİ YILDIRIM Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey

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33 42nd Singapore Lecture 13 July 2018 ROK and ASEAN: Partners for Achieving Peace and Co-prosperity in East Asia by Moon Jae-in President of the Republic of Korea 43rd Singapore Lecture 21 August 2018 Democratic Transition in Myanmar: Challenges and the Way Forward by Aung San Suu Kyi State Counsellor of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar 44th Singapore Lecture 13 November 2018 Pursuing Open and Integrated Development for Shared Prosperity by li keqiang Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China 45th Singapore Lecture 8 December 2022 Timor-Leste: From Conflict to Reconciliation, Democracy, and Regional Integration by JOSÉ RAMOS-HORTA President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

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