Official Visit of Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong to Timor-Leste, 2 to 3 July 2026

Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong is on an Official Visit to Timor-Leste from 2 to 3 July 2026.

Prime Minister Wong received a ceremonial welcome at the Presidential Palace and called on Timor-Leste President Dr José Ramos-Horta today. He was conferred the Order of Timor-Leste (Grand Collar) by President Ramos-Horta in recognition of his contributions to furthering the bilateral relationship, including Singapore’s support for Timor-Leste’s ASEAN membership.

Prime Minister Wong met Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, during which the two leaders affirmed the warm and longstanding ties between the two countries. They agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, development assistance, and people-to-people exchanges. The Prime Ministers also reaffirmed the importance of international law and the rules-based multilateral system, particularly for small states like Timor-Leste and Singapore.

Following the meeting, the two Prime Ministers held a Joint Press Conference to announce the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of Bilateral Consultations. Prime Minister Wong also announced additional ASEAN-related capacity building programmes for Timor-Leste to support its ASEAN membership.

As part of strengthening economic ties between Singapore and Timor-Leste, Prime Minister Wong announced that Timor-Leste would be designated as an approved Non-Traditional Source country for Work Permit Holders with effect from the second half of 2027. This would allow firms in Singapore to hire Timorese workers on Work Permits in the Construction, Marine Shipyard and Process sectors, as well as selected occupations in the Manufacturing and Services sectors.

Prime Minister Wong will depart for Singapore today.  

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

SINGAPORE 

3 JULY 2026