José Ramos-Horta was responding to journalists at the Presidential Palace, in Cidade Alta, after a meeting with his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço, and the signing of three legal instruments to reinforce cooperation between the two countries.
Regarding cooperation between the two countries in the oil sector, the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, highlighted that this is one of the fields in which cooperation is intended to be strengthened, taking into account that Timor-Leste has "good prospects" of being a major oil and gas producer.
"But we won't stop there", he added, stressing that Angola's ambition is also to cooperate in other fields, such as tourism, trade, but also agriculture.
Speaking about the prospect of Timor-Leste's upcoming membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), João Lourenço hinted at the possibility of the PALOP countries entering into a free trade agreement with this "large organization that encompasses countries with very strong economies".
According to Ramos-Horta, Timor-Leste is about to conclude negotiations with Australia and energy companies for the development of the Greater Sunrise gas field.
"There is the prospect that very soon, in the coming weeks or months, we will finalize the long negotiations with Australia and oil and gas companies with interests in the Timor Sea for the development of the Greater Sunrise gas field that has been idle for almost two decades. Everything indicates that there is a possibility of an agreement", announced the Timorese President, this Monday, on the first day of his official visit to Angola.
Located 150 kilometers from Timor-Leste and 450 kilometers from Darwin, the Greater Sunrise project has been mired in an impasse, with Dili defending the construction of a gas pipeline to the south of the country and Woodside, the consortium's second largest partner, lean towards a connection with the unity already existing in Darwin.
The consortium is made up of Timorese Timor Gap (56.56 percent), operator Woodside Energy (33.44 percent) and Osaca Gás Australia (10 percent).
The permanent maritime boundary agreement between Timor-Leste and Australia states that Greater Sunrise, a shared resource, will have to be shared, with 70 percent of revenues going to Timor-Leste in the case of a gas pipeline to the country, or 80 percent if processing is in Darwin.
Ramos-Horta highlighted that "unfortunately", Timor remains very dependent on non-renewable resources that it "will not get rid of" and will continue exploring oil, although it maintains its energy transition commitments.
He considered, on the other hand, that Timor maintains "exceptional and exemplary" relations not only with Angola, but with all the States of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), but "I would like to move from hugs and declarations of friendship to a larger dimension more practical than commercial and economic cooperation".
