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Subject: RI and Timor Leste strengthen cooperation
01/20/09 10:13 RI and Timor Leste strengthen cooperation London (ANTARA News)- Timor Leste Foreign Minister Zacarias Albano da Costa has said cooperation between his country and Indonesia so far has been running well and even stronger. Zacarias Albano da Costa made the remarks in a luncheon with ASEAN ambassadors which was held in Indonesia`s embassy in Brussels on Monday, Counselor P.L.E.Priatna quoted the foreign minister as saying. The visit of Timor Leste`s foreign minister and his entourage to Europe was aimed at inaugurating the Timor Leste`s representative office to Europe in Brussels as a measure to improve the country`s cooperations with the European Union (EU) member countries. The Timor Leste`s foreign minister during the luncheon function expressed his country`s appreciation to Indonesian government which has helped normalize the bilateral relations as well as assisted the development process of Timor Leste. According to Zacarias Albano Da Costa, he has at least conducted six times of meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhohono to date, including meetings with his counterpart foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda. On the occasion, Minister Da Costa expressed hope about his country`s expectation to become a full member of ASEAN in 2012. Da Costa said further that he would send a liaison officer to ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta early in February this year in a bid to meet a prerequisite to become an ASEAN member. In the meantime, Indonesian ambassador to Belgium, Luxemburg and European Union, Nadjib Riphat said it was a good opportunity to obtain information about an improvement of the bilateral ties from the "first hand" (most reliable source) of the Timor Leste. ASEAN groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam. (*)
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