Timor Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta to Visit Indonesia in July

KOMPAS.com – Timor Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta is expected to visit Indonesia in July to discuss bilateral relations and find new ways of cooperation between the two countries.

In an online interview, Ramos-Horta said that as a tradition for the past 20 years, Indonesia has always been the site of a new Timorese leader’s first bilateral visit after taking an oath as president and prime minister.

Ramos-Horta has garnered over 60 percent of the votes in a run-off election against incumbent Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres in April this year. Ramos-Horta was inaugurated as the fifth president of Timor Leste on May 20, 2022 as his country celebrated the 20th independence anniversary.

Previously, he served as the second president from 2007 to 2012 and prime minister from 2006 to 2007.

Also read: Ramos-Horta Leads in Timor-Leste Election, with Chance of Runoff

“I expect to visit [Indonesia] in July this year together with Timorese government ministers and maybe representatives from the private sector,” the Nobel laureate told Kompas Go Thursday, May 26.

He already received an invitation from his Indonesian counterpart President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to visit Jakarta.

In his recent state address, Ramos-Horta expressed commitment to building closer ties with Indonesia, including prioritizing the development of East Nusa Tenggara, the close Indonesian province to Timor Leste.

“We have to look at an integrated economy whereby Timor Leste, East Nusa Tenggara, and other eastern provinces of Indonesia work together to complement our respective economy,” he said.

The potential areas of cooperation include agriculture, the development of food production, vegetables, fruits, fisheries, and small-scale industries.

He said that Timor Leste East and East Nusa Tenggara have more in common where their development is still low compared to other developed provinces in Indonesia.

He also stressed the importance of developing water management in East Timor and West Timor.

“We must improve, look into the water management because East Timor and West Timor and some other islands of Indonesia have very little water.”

To do so, he added, the support from the central government in Jakarta, including technical support, is needed.

“I want to see more cultural activities, sports activities, people exchange, student exchange, [not only] between East Timor and West Timor, [but also] between East Timor and Bali or Java,” he said.

Land and maritime borders

The two countries have agreed on resolving land border issues previously. The negotiation almost concluded, but then Covid-19 broke out. He said that Xanana Gusmao, the first president and independence hero, intended to visit Jakarta soon and re-start the dialog on resolving the land border demarcation.

Meanwhile, on the maritime border issues, the negotiation process will take more time. “Indonesia and Timor Leste have agreed that we would move to [discuss] the maritime border after resolving the land border issues.”

It may take longer to resolve the maritime boundary, but it should happen. “I hope we will also conclude the maritime boundary negotiation in the next five years."

Twenty years since the restoration of its independence from Indonesia in 2002, Timor-Leste has been building good relationship with Indonesia.

“After 24 years of conflict, the two nations became so friendly with each other…unlike so many other conflicts in the world, where people fail to overcome conflict and live together,” Ramos-Horta said.