Japan- Timor-Leste Relations
Japan-Timor-Leste Summit Meeting
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
On August 26, commencing at 11:45 a.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. ISHIBA Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan, held a Japan-Timor-Leste Summit Meeting with H.E. Dr. José RAMOS-HORTA, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, who is visiting Japan to participate in the National Day Event of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. Following the Summit Meeting, commencing at 12:20 p.m. for approximately 60 minutes, the two leaders had lunch together. The overview of the Summit Meeting is as follows.
1. Introduction
Prime Minister Ishiba, after extending a warm welcome to President Ramos-Horta, expressed his congratulations on Timor-Leste’s planned accession to ASEAN in October this year and conveyed that Japan would support Timor-Leste’s efforts in the aftermath of its accession to ASEAN. Prime Minister Ishiba also stated that he looked forward not only to further advancing bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas including security and economy but also to deepening collaboration on regional and international issues with a view to further developing a Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries. In response, President Ramos-Horta delighted to visit Japan again as president, and expressed his desire to further develop the bilateral partnership in various fields building on such longstanding friendship and cooperative relations.
2. Bilateral Relations
Prime Minister Ishiba stated that amid multiple crises the international community is facing and the accordingly increasing significance to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law, Japan attached importance to working together with Timor-Leste, connecting the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Minister Ishiba also welcomed that the two countries concurred to deliver on Japan’s Official Security Assistance (OSA) which would be provided for Timor-Leste for the first time. Furthermore, Prime Minister Ishiba expressed that Japan intended to support Timor-Leste’s economic and social development including industrial diversification in the light of its accession to ASEAN. In response, President Ramos-Horta expressed his gratitude for Japan’s support and assistance to date for Timor-Leste’s nation-building and accession to ASEAN, also welcomed deepening bilateral cooperation in the security field through the first OSA, and stated that he looked forward to further reinforcing the already close bilateral relations between the two countries.
3. Regional and International Issues
The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and international issues including maritime security and dealing with North Korea on the nuclear and missile issues as well as the abductions issue, and confirmed that they would work together on that.