Ministry of Commerce and Industry publishes Decree-Law and

Ministerial Diploma in the Special Administrative Region of Oecussi Ambeno

MCI Press Media

RAEOA June 18, 2025

On June 18, 2025, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, through the Directorate-General for Industry, continued the dissemination of three Decree-Laws and a Ministerial Diploma in the Special Administrative Region of Oecussi Ambeno (RAEOA), with the activity being carried out at the Hotel Lifau.

The decree-laws are as follows:

Decree-Law No. 90/2023, Industrial Licensing, [1]
Decree-Law No. 91/2023, Industrial Base, [2]
Decree-Law No. 12/2024, General Legal Framework for Electronic Commerce and Electronic Signatures[3]
Ministerial Diploma No. 23/2024, of 20 March, which establishes the Organic-Functional Regulation of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. [4]

In the speech of the Director-General of Industry, Mr. Martins Magno, he said that this Decree-Law regulates the business activity of our entrepreneurs linked to the industry.

Ask the participants, especially economic operators, why entrepreneurs are also an important machine in the pillar of the country's economic development.

As an entrepreneur whose business is aimed at the industrial sector, you must know in detail the substantial content of the Decree-Law itself, in a specific and comprehensive way, as this Decree-Law will regulate and reflect on your business.

There will be a Q&A session after the presentation, so I challenge you to take this opportunity to ask and clarify any questions you have immediately, so that you can get a direct answer from the speakers.

On the other hand, the representative of the President of the Authority of the Special Administrative Region of Oecussi Ambeno, Mr. André Lao, in his capacity as Secretary of Administration of the State-owned company.

I would also like to express my gratitude to the 9th Constitutional Government, through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, for having chosen RAEOA to distribute or disseminate Decree-Laws that regulate specific industrial activities. These three Decree-Laws are in force in our country, Timor-Leste.

This means that those who participate in business activities in the area of industry must regularize their activity with the Decree-Law.

He also reinforced that, to be a good entrepreneur, it is necessary to follow all the verses (ayat) defined in this Decree-Law (DKL), as this is the legal basis for restricting any industrial activity.

In addition, the Representative of the President of the RAEOA Authority asked the group or entrepreneur who participated in the dissemination activity to listen and focus on the explanations of the speakers so that, in the exercise of their activity, they did not violate the Decree-Law.

The activity of disseminating the Decree-Law on Industrial Licensing, Industrial Base and General Legal Regime of Electronic Commerce and Electronic Signatures is very important, since this Decree-Law aims to regularize industrial activities.

"Your presence at the dissemination of this Decree-Law will allow you to hear directly the explanation of the content of the Decree-Law, in order to understand and know well the business activity aimed at the industrial sector", said the Vice-Minister of Commerce and Industry, Augusto Júnior Trindade, when opening the dissemination activity.

On the occasion, the Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry (VMCI) also stressed that the private sector, or the public sector, is an important partnership of the Government in the development of the national economy and that, to achieve this goal, there must be the collaboration of all sectors, together with the Government.

Today, I would like to add something related to our long road to accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), which took place last year and of which we officially became members. This demonstrates that Timor-Leste is open to expanding its market to the international world.

In addition, 2025 will also be a great milestone for our dear country, Timor-Leste, as ASEAN member countries have accepted Timor-Leste's accession as an ASEAN member country, and official membership will take place in October 2025, when Timor-Leste will officially become a permanent member.

Now, in the future, we will all need more work or a little more effort to respond to these situations. Therefore, I encourage everyone, especially to prepare to compete in the free market, whether entrepreneurs or investors from ASEAN countries and other countries will come to invest in Timor-Leste or not.

To compete in all aspects, with the expectation of moving forward and preparing for global or international competition, in order to achieve these goals, one of the main keys is the need for solid preparation and planning to respond to the free market.

[1] https://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/docs/2023/serie_1/SERIE_I_NO_49.pdf

GOVERNMENT : Decree-Law No. 90/2023 of 27 December Decree-Law No. 91/2023 of 27 December Industrial Licensing, on page 2404

[2] https://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/docs/2023/serie_1/SERIE_I_NO_49.pdf

Decree-Law No. 91/2023 of 27 December, Bases of Industry, on page 2417

[3] https://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/docs/2024/serie_1/SERIE_I_NO_7.pdf

DECREE-LAW NO. 12/2024 of 13 February GENERAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES on page 180

[4] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KQT32x5ADwNI-dclaowCz19-XiRpTB3i/view

MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY : Ministerial Diploma No. 23/2024 of 20 March Organic-Functional Regulation of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry .page 322

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