• His Excellency Minister of State Coordinating for Economic Affairs, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr. Estanislau Aleixo da Silva,
• His Excellency Secretary of State for Employment Policy and Vocational Training, Mr. Ilídio Ximenes da Costa
• Representatives of Timor-Leste Employers and Worker’s organizations
• Government guests
• Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a greatest honour to be present here on behalf of the ILO at the launch event of National Employment Strategy 2017-2030. This is a clear commitment of the government of TL to expand job opportunities for all Timorese, not just those with resources, but for all, urban and rural, encompassing all economic sectors including vulnerable segment of the society such as youth, women.

As you know, Employment is a critical avenue toward achieving inclusive and pro-poor growth. Productive employment and decent work, not just work but decent work, are the main routes out of poverty.

The low labour force participation and the difficulties of young people entering the labour market stand out as the most deficiencies. Therefore, the NES 2017 - 2030 focuses on the need of creating new jobs to provide employment opportunities for the large population of young people entering the labour market in the next years; which means increasing formal jobs and addressing current productivity to achieve Government Strategy Development Plan by 2030.

Decent work will give opportunities and enhance capacity of Timorese people in engaging in productive activities, rather than depending on natural resources. In this sense, productive employment shall be a central means of nation building and wealth creation.

The main goal of National Employment Strategy 2017-2030 is to provide a strategy for the government and civil society to have a stronger and more cohesive focus on employment and will be used as a framework, reference and guiding tools for strengthening the focus on employment across the policy spectrum”: 

The NES has set out a series of indicators for each pillar and the strategies under each pillar.
Pillar 1: Increasing labour market demand. (i.e.Private sector, government spending, migration opportunities)
Pillar 2: Improving labour market supply. (i.e. building HR, link between education and work
Pillar 3: Strengthening labour market institutions. (i.e. LMIS, ALMP)

Including defined baselines and targets for 2030 as well 5-year evaluations of the NES, targets will be reviewed and re-defined when necessary.

Employment is a key priority area that ILO collaborate closely with the government of Timor-Leste through our DWCP signed last year. NES is one of the key endeavour and collaborative efforts for setting out a main national strategy to maximise the employment impact of the country’s development effort. As you know The NES was finalised by MECAE and SEPFOPE and approved just recently by Council of Ministers in June 2017. I would like to congratulate the hard work put in by MECAE and SEPFOPE and all the collaborative efforts by all ministries involved to produce and approve this excellent strategic framework.

ILO wishes that the NES will further operationalize the employment dimensions of the Strategic Development Plan by ensuring that employment is incorporated into macroeconomic, sectoral as well as labour market strategies. We look forward to further collaborating on actions plans and implementation of the NES, aligning with current objectives and structure of the government. My sincere congratulations again to the government of TL for today’s launch event and all the best for fruitful implementation NES in coming years.