Your Excellency Mr. Hermenegildo Augusto Cabral Pereira, Minister of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers,
Your Excellency Mr. Salvador Soares dos Reis Pires, Minister of Public Works,
Your Excellency Mr. José Agostinho da Silva, Minister of Transport and Communications,
Your Excellency Major General Lere Anan Timur, General Commander of F-FDTL,
Distinguished Mr. Chen Shiping, General Manager of China Railway International Group,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Morning!
It is my great pleasure to be invited to attend this inauguration ceremony and to witness another important achievement in infrastructure cooperation between China and Timor-Leste. On behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Timor-Leste, I would like to express my warm congratulations on the completion and opening of the Highway and extend my heartfelt thanks to all sectors of the Timor-Leste society that support and care about the highway construction, especially related line Ministries, Covalima District Government, the community villagers and local employees.
As the first expressway ever built in Timor-Leste, this Suai-Fatucai Section Highway is the largest infrastructure construction project since Timor-Leste`s independence. It is also another example of win-win cooperation between China and Timor-Leste. The contractor, China Overseas Engineering Group Co., Ltd. in joint venture with China Railway First Group Co., Ltd (COVEC-CRFG), is a well-known construction company. Its parent company, China Railway Group Limited is the Fortune Global 500 company, one of the world`s largest engineering and construction corporation. At the very beginning, COVEC-CRFG ran for the international competitive bidding, offered by the Timor-Leste government on equal footing with other competitors and finally won this highway project. All procedures were in accordance with international biding practice and were fair, open and transparent. After more than two years` construction, we are happy to see that the project has been successfully completed. The company has handed over in time a modern, high-quality highway to the Timorese side. It proves that this company not only has strength on technology, experience and management, but also is hardworking, trustworthy and efficient, which are well recognized by the Timorese government and people, as well as third parties such as foreign experts, journalists and diplomats from other countries.
The company also put great efforts on localization and social responsibility. During the construction period, over 2000 jobs were offered to local residents, accounting for about 80% of all the employees. The company on many occasions repaired local roads, bridges and school playgrounds for the villagers, thus facilitating their lives.
As the Chinese saying goes，“if you want to get rich, build a road first”, which I think, also works in Timor-Leste. This Highway will surely strengthen infrastructure connectivity and promote the development of southern coast of Timor-Leste. I am very glad to see that the two years plus period has witnessed great changes in the regions along the constructed highway. The road has been widened, more jobs are offered to local people who bought new motorcycles and built more new houses. Another big change is that, by conducting the project, a great number of skilled workers with technical know-how have been cultivated, which will definitely facilitate the sustainable development of Timor-Leste. Most important of all, changes could also be seen in local people`s perception and mindset, which are more open, inclusive and modernization-oriented. The highway opens a window to the outside world for the local residents. They are feeling new, curious and full of anticipation for the future. The above mentioned tremendous changes are not only positive outcome of bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation but also the full demonstration of traditional friendship between our two countries.
China and Timor-leste enjoy a long-standing and well-established friendship. China is the first to recoganize the independence of Timor-Leste and also the first to establish diplomatic relations with Timor-Leste. This year marks the 16th anniversary of the establishment of China-Timor-Leste diplomatic ties. Over the past 16 years, the bilateral relations have developed rapidly in an all-round manner. Political trust has been continuously deepened; mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, economy, trade, agriculture, education, and health has been steadily strengthened, therefore, bringing concrete and tangible benefits to people of our two countries.
The China-Timor-Leste relations can serve as a model of equal treatment, friendly and win-win cooperation among all nations, irrespective of size and development level. 5 years ago, China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative that has attracted more and more active participants. In May last year, China and Timor-Leste signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Cooperation under the Framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which elevated the bilateral cooperation to a new high. Timor-Leste has long since formulated its Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030, and is now concentrating on developing its economy, and uplifting people`s well-being. It could be seen that the bilateral cooperation boasts great potentials and a prosperous future. I believe, with the joint efforts of our two sides, the cooperation in economy, trade and others areas will be constantly strengthened; the well-being of Timor-Leste people will be substantially improved, and new progress will be made in jointly building the Belt and Road. On the basis of respect for the will of Timor-Leste and in line with the principle of equal footing, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, China is willing to work with all other countries to contribute to the economic development of Timor-Leste and the livelihood of its people.
Finally, I wish the ceremony this morning every success.
Thank you.