Portugal will support Timor-Leste with 70 million euros under the 2019-2023 Strategic Cooperation Programme (PEC), signed on Tuesday in Lisbon by Timor-Leste’s Foreign Minister Dionisio Babo Soares and by Teresa Ribeiro, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal, the Portuguese press reported.

Portugal’s foreign minister, Augusto Santos Silva, noted the “considerable financial increase” compared to the previous protocol, valued at 42 million euros.

The first major area of cooperation between Timor-Leste and Portugal is education and teaching, with “a natural emphasis on Portuguese-language training,” said Santos Silva, who noted there are 140 Portuguese teachers at school learning and training centres, a program that covers 6,500 East Timorese students.

The Minister also highlighted the FOCO – Training, Guidance, Certification and Optimisation project, which involves the National University of Timor-Leste and “seeks to train trainers,” aiming to teach courses in Portuguese at this institution. (Macauhub)