Geneva, 16 October 2025

Timor-Leste participated in the Formal Meeting and Informal Sessions of the WTO Committee on Government Procurement (GPA), held in Geneva, Swiss on Wednesday, 15 October 2025, marking the Committee’s 100th formal meeting since the adoption of the first WTO GPA in 1994.

During the session, Ambassador António da Conceição, Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the WTO, had the honour to present an update on Timor-Leste’s progress toward accession to the GPA.

In his statement, Ambassador da Conceição reported that, since Timor-Leste’s last communication to the Committee on 10 September 2025, the Government—working closely with development partners, the International Trade Centre (ITC), and the Australian Government through the PROSIVU Program—has successfully implemented a series of joint capacity-building activities involving technical officials from key ministries and agencies.

These initiatives have been instrumental in strengthening institutional understanding of the GPA framework and in equipping national technical teams with the tools and methodologies necessary to prepare Timor-Leste’s Market Access Offer.

The Government of Timor-Leste is now finalizing the legal mandate for the establishment of the Technical Working Group on GPA Accession, an inter-ministerial body that will serve as the formal mechanism for internal coordination and consultation in the preparation of the Market Access Offer. Once the mandate is formalized, the Working Group will commence its operations.

In terms of the overall timeline, Timor-Leste aims to complete the formal establishment of the Technical Working Group by the end of 2025, and to proceed with the submission of its Market Access Offer by mid-2026.

Timor-Leste views its accession to the GPA as an integral component of its broader strategy for integration into the global trading system. The Government continues to express its deep appreciation for the flexibility, guidance, and support provided by the WTO Secretariat and development partners throughout this process.

The meeting on 15 October 2025 also marked a significant milestone — the 100th formal meeting of the GPA Committee since the adoption of the first WTO GPA in April 1994. Since the entry into force of the 1994 GPA in January 1996, the Committee has convened 94 formal meetings, in addition to several held by the Interim Committee between 1994 and 1996 in preparation for the Agreement’s implementation.