Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry represents Timor-Leste at SEOM 3/56 Meeting
Kuala Lumpur, 19 August 2025
His Excellency, the Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Augusto Júnior Trindade, acting Senior Economic Official Meeting (SEOM) Leader, represented Timor-Leste, together with the delegation, at the SEOM 3/56 meeting.
The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia, Ms. Mastura Ahmad Mustafa, and was held over four days, from 18 to 23 August 2025, at the Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, with the participation of SEOM leaders from ASEAN Member States.
During the meeting, the chair requested an update on Timor-Leste’s progress in preparing for full ASEAN integration in October 2025.
In his intervention, His Excellency the Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry stated that, as declared at the 46th ASEAN Summit in May 2025, Timor-Leste continues to work diligently to finalize priority legal instruments required under ASEAN economic agreements.
“Timor-Leste has already submitted feedback on the draft Instrument of Accession to the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Enhancing Economic Cooperation, the ASEAN Protocol on Enhanced Dispute Settlement Mechanism, the ASEAN Tourism Agreement, and the Ministerial Understanding on ASEAN Cooperation in Tourism. Timor-Leste highly appreciates the support and guidance from ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretariat in facilitating this important process.”
On the domestic front, Timor-Leste has made substantial progress, including aligning its regulatory framework with key AEC agreements, such as approving preferential rules of origin to allow the adoption of the electronic Form D in implementing ATIGA rules of origin.
The Vice Minister also explained the progress Timor-Leste has made in negotiations on core economic agreements:
Trade in goods: Timor-Leste submitted its Revised Market Access Offer on 7 August, reflecting efforts to harmonize its trade regime with existing ASEAN norms and align with ATIGA’s liberalization objectives.
Timor-Leste continues to request Member States’ support for a more flexible timeline to implement its ATIGA commitments.
Timor-Leste remains confident that, with continued efforts and support from Member States, the ATIGA negotiations can be concluded at the 2nd Special CCA Meeting scheduled for 27 August 2025 at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.
Services: Timor-Leste has submitted its Schedule of Commitments under AFAS, responded to clarification requests from the Coordinating Committee on Services (CCS) regarding its Schedule of Commitments on Movement of Natural Persons (MNP), and addressed questions from the Working Committee on Financial Services Liberalization (WC-FSL) regarding its Schedule of Commitments on AFAS financial services. Timor-Leste is still awaiting feedback from the Air Transport Working Group (ATWG) regarding commitments on air transport services.
Investment: Timor-Leste values the inputs and support received from ASEAN Member States during the 88th Meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Investment (CCI) regarding ACIA, its four protocol amendments, and the ASEAN Investment Facilitation Framework (AIFF), and awaits further information from Member States to swiftly conclude the accession process.
Timor-Leste remains committed to completing all technical and procedural requirements for the Instruments of Accession to ATIGA, AFAS, ACIA, and other priority legal instruments.
In conclusion, the Vice Minister expressed his gratitude to ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretariat for their continuous support and guidance in accelerating and finalizing the accession process, in line with the agreed work plan ahead of the 47th Summit in October 2025
