Lisbon, 20 October 2023 - H.E. The Minister of Defence, Rear Admiral Donaciano da Costa Gomes 'Pedro Klamar Fuik', PhD, participated in the third g7+ conference on State Fragilities, entitled "Global challenges and impacts in countries affected by conflicts", the event promoted by the g7+ and the Lisbon Club, in Portugal.

Minister Donaciano da Costa Gomes 'Pedro Klamar Fuik', PhD, was invited as one of the speakers at the event organized by the g7+ and Clube de Lisboa.  During the conference, the minister presented the new geopolitical framework of the Indo-Pacific and the geographical importance of East Timor in the global geopolitical context.

Regarding the geopolitical framework, the Minister of Defence said in his speech that, "the Indo-Pacific is the geographic space that encompasses the Indian and Pacific Oceans and extends from India to the Chinese coast, passing through the South China Sea and Oceania, from which a deterioration in relations between the United States of America and China can disrupt the international order and manifest itself in different ways".

To this end, H.E. the Minister of Defence, Rear Admiral Donaciano da Costa Gomes, in his speech also stressed that it is important to develop a multilateral governance arrangement that is inspired by the ideal of peace and stability, such as the g7+, which fosters trust, friendship and cooperation around the issues of economic growth, social progress and cultural development, as well as the promotion of peace, stability, through respect and justice between members, which are the aims of ASEAN.

About the geographical importance of East Timor in the global geopolitical context, the Minister of Defence of Timor-Leste stated that "it is common for countries like ours, coming out of situations of conflict and fragility, to take decades to achieve a situation of stability and sustainable progress. However, Timor-Leste's nation-building process has been guided by the purpose of peace and we believe that without a peaceful society, there can be no sustainable development, so from the very beginning as a nation, as a people, we committed to become agents of peace as a strategy for moving away from fragility towards resilience."

On Timor-Leste's position, H.E. Minister of Defence Donaciano da Costa Gomes, PhD, said that Timor-Leste's foreign policy aims to establish relations of friendship and cooperation with other peoples. For this reason, Timor-Leste continues to position itself strategically as an agent of peace in this area of great strategic military and commercial interest.

"We consider it important to continue to engage in the various strategies for cooperation actions, on the one hand, multilateral, and regional, namely with the United Nations, the g7+, ASEAN or the CPLP, and on the other hand, bilateral, namely with Australia, Indonesia, China, the United States of America, Japan, New Zealand, Cuba, among others," stressed the Minister of Defence.  

Rear Admiral Donaciano da Costa Gomes, PhD, in his speech on fragile states, also suggested that the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank should include the issues of security, justice, economy, services, transparency and mutual aid.