EAST TIMOR TO OPEN EMBASSY IN CAPITAL

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East Timor’s Foreign Minister, Mr Zacarias Albano da Costa, in Hanoi last month. Pic: Kyaw Hsu Mon

By Kyaw Hsu- Mon August 2 - 8, 2010- MYANMARTIMES

EAST Timor is planning to open an embassy in Nay Pyi Taw as part of preparations to become ASEAN’s 11th member state, the country’s foreign minister, Mr Zacarias Albano da Costa, told The Myanmar Times on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Hanoi last month.

Mr da Costa could not confirm when the embassy would open but said on July 21 it would most likely take place after the country becomes an ASEAN member, which he said was likely to happen within two years.

He said East Timor was being supported in its quest for membership of the regional grouping by neighbouring Indonesia, which occupied the country from 1975 to 1999, but was also still waiting for the green light from its own parliament.

“Indonesia is supporting us to be an [ASEAN] member country and it will happen either next year or 2012. We are in discussions with ASEAN foreign ministers to open an embassy in each country, including Myanmar, where we are planning to build in the new capital Nay Pyi Taw,” Mr da Costa said.

“It is just at the planning stage at the moment so I can’t give an exact date. We are also waiting for approval from our parliament to join ASEAN.”

“Our first priority is to become a member of ASEAN,” he said. “We are gradually attending ASEAN summits and meetings, working with the ASEAN secretariat.”

The East Timor ambassador to Myanmar, Mr Juvencio de Jesus Martins, presented his credentials to Senior General Than Shwe in Nay Pyi Taw on June 22. Mr Martins is also the ambassador to Malaysia and Vietnam and is based in Kuala Lumpur.

East Timor was colonised by Portugal in the 16th century and invaded by Indonesia in late 1975 after it had declared independence. In 1999 a referendum was held and the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence, becoming a sovereign state on May 20, 2002.
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