East Timor is keen to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
even though its human resources and economy still need developing, its
ambassador to Thailand, Joao Freitas de Camara, says.
Mr Camara said his country is
ready to do its best.
Previously, some Asean members
including Singapore did not want East Timor in the regional bloc because the
country's internal conflicts might cause it problems.
Mr Camara conceded East Timor
needs to do more work on economic development before it can become an Asean
member.
He said the reconstruction of his
country is continuing after its recent conflicts, and the process would take
time.
"The time is good for us to
prepare ourselves to join Asean. We still need to improve our human resources
to cover more than 700 Asean meetings a year. Our government has sent students
to further their studies in Asean countries and as well as Europe.
"We expect that in the next
10-15 years, we will be able to achieve our human resources capacity goal when
the students come back to help develop the country," Mr Camara said.
He spoke at a recent seminar
organised by the Foreign Ministry to mark the 10th anniversary of Thai-East
Timor diplomatic relations.
The ambassador was confident his
country would settle down after United Nations peacekeeping forces leave at the
end of this year.
"We came out of the conflict
24 years ago. Even though there will be no UN peacekeeping forces in the
country, we are sure to move in the right direction," the ambassador said.
He said Thailand has been East
Timor's good friend since its independence. It has supported East Timor in
forging peace and stability, by sending troops to help build the nation.
Mr Camara said his government
launched a 30-year strategic development plan last year which focused on
investing in human capital to develop the country.
He believed, however, that if
East Timor could become an Asean member, the grouping would benefit from its
rich natural resources, such as oil and gas reserves, coffee and marble, which
he said are unsurpassed in Asia.
Former Thai ambassador to East
Timor, Wiwat Kultornthien, is confident the country would not slide back into
conflict after the UN forces leave.
Mr Wiwat said the five-year
conflict was a painful experience for Timorese people.
It prompted citizens to adopt a
reconciliation mentality. The leaders' thinking is also different from the
past, he said.
The former ambassador, who served
in East Timor from 2005-2010, said East Timor has oil and gas reserves, but
these would probably be exhausted in 25-30 years. The country is giving
scholarships to students to study agriculture in Thailand.
If East Timor could join Asean
one day, it may export agricultural produce to other members of the bloc, which
would be a payoff for Thailand's efforts to help East Timor.
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