Macau and Dili, Timor Leste’s capital city, officially became sister cities as the SAR’s Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng and Timor-Leste’s Minister of State Administration Tomás Rosário Cabral signed a memorandum of understanding establishing the sister-city ties in a ceremony held at the Government Headquarters in Macau on Thursday.
Ho (pictured, right) said that Macau and Timor-Leste were vital nodes on the Maritime Silk Road, adding that both sides could seize the development opportunities from the “Belt and Road” initiative to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and work together to create a better future.
Other guests who attended Thursday’s ceremony included Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the MSAR Liu Xianfa, Macau’s Secretary for Administration and Justice Cheong Weng Chon and Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Ao Ieong U, as well as Dili Mayor António Augusto Guterres, among other officials from both sides.
At the end of July this year, Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta made his first state-visit to China, where the two countries signed a cooperation plan for jointly advancing the “Belt and Road” initiative and issued a joint statement on deepening both sides’ comprehensive strategic partnership.
Ho underlined that establishing the sister-city ties was a concrete step towards implementing the commitment made in the joint statement between China and Timor-Leste.
The joint statement mentioned an aim to “encourage the establishment of sister-city ties between MSAR and Dili, and continue to enhance sister-city cooperation and people-to-people exchanges to forge closer bonds between the two peoples”, which further aims to elevate the two countries’ relationship to a new level.
Ho added that Macau could give better play to its role as a commercial and trade cooperation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries, utilising existing mechanisms – such as the Forum Macao – to enhance ties with Timor-Leste.
Forum Macao is the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao).
Ho further said that Timor-Leste was welcome to participate (via the Forum Macao mechanism) in the development of Macau and the Guangdong-Macau-Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, thereby expanding Timor-Leste’s cooperation with the overall Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Meanwhile, Cabral said that despite the significant geographical distance between the two cities, the establishment of a friendly relationship stemmed from the similar characteristics and commonalities that Macau and Dili have long shared in terms of history and culture.
Before the signing ceremony, Ho, accompanied by several officials in Macau, had a separate meeting with Cabral and his delegation, during which they exchanged views on issues related to matters concerning the economy, trade, tourism and culture.
Source and Photo: Government Information Bureau (GCS)
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