Official Visit of Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, 13 to 16 July 2025

                Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Xanana Gusmão is on an Official Visit to Singapore. He received a ceremonial welcome, called on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and met Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong. Prime Minister Wong also hosted Prime Minister Gusmão to an Official Lunch.

                During the meetings, both sides affirmed the warm and longstanding ties between Singapore and Timor-Leste, which precede Timor-Leste’s independence. President Tharman and Prime Minister Wong welcomed the deepening of bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, human resource development, and people-to-people exchanges. They reaffirmed Singapore’s commitment to support Timor-Leste’s development through capacity building programmes and welcomed more Timorese officials to participate in the Singapore Cooperation Programme. To date, over 1,100 Timorese officials have participated in courses organised by Singapore. Prime Minister Wong expressed appreciation for the gift of 60 sandalwood saplings from Timor-Leste in commemoration of SG60.

                To support Timor-Leste’s upcoming accession to ASEAN, Singapore will launch a customised enhanced Singapore-Timor-Leste ASEAN Readiness Support (eSTARS) Package. This new package will run from July 2025 to December 2028 and builds on the STARS programme launched in December 2022. The eSTARS package will include wider access to ASEAN-related training courses and expertise to support Timor-Leste’s integration into ASEAN. Beyond the ambit of ASEAN,Singapore will also offer scholarships, capacity building programmes, and customised leadership training for Timor-Leste officials. More details on the eSTARS package are at Annex.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

14 JULY 2025

Annex

FACTSHEET ON

ENHANCED SINGAPORE - TIMOR-LESTE ASEAN READINESS SUPPORT (eSTARS) PACKAGE

                As part of Singapore’s commitment to support Timor-Leste’s preparations for its accession and integration into ASEAN, Singapore has launched a special technical assistance package for Timor-Leste – the “Enhanced Singapore-Timor-Leste ASEAN Readiness Support” (eSTARS) package. The eSTARS package builds on the existing STARS package launched in 2022. 

2              The eSTARS package will comprise capacity building programmes aimed at equipping Timor-Leste officials to participate effectively in ASEAN meetings.The package will include wider access to ASEAN-related training courses and expertise to support Timor-Leste’s accession to key ASEAN Economic Agreements andfull integration into ASEAN, beyond its formal accession in October.

3              The eSTARS package will also comprise customised programmes and postgraduate scholarships aimed at developing human capital in Timor-Leste. This includes a high-level leadership programme and training in specific areas such as international trade law and technical and vocational education.

4              The eSTARS package will run from July 2025 to December 2028.

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