The Autoridade Nacional dos Minerais, I.P. represented Timor-Leste as an observer in the 14th Joint Working Group Meeting of the JWG and its associated meetings held from 4th to 8th August 2025 in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR.
The delegations participated in the 8th AMCAP Task Force Meeting, which focused on the final review of the ASEAN Minerals Development Vision (AMDV), the AMDV Declaration, and the ASEAN Minerals Cooperation Action Plan (AMCAP-IV) 2026–2030, with the aim of submitting the finalized documents to be adopted by the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Minerals (ASOMM), then to the ASEAN Ministers on Minerals (AMMin), for endorsement by ASEAN Leaders.
In addition, the delegations attended the 27th Joint Working Group meeting on AMCAP for the following:
• Working Group on Mineral Information and Database (WGMID);
• Working Group on Capacity Building in Minerals (WGCBM);
• Working Group on Trade and Investment in Minerals (WGTIM); and
• Working Group on Sustainable Mineral Development (WGSMD).
In these meetings ASEAN Member States (AMS) updated their implementation progress in reference to the Outcome-based Strategies and Action Lines of the AMCAP-III Phase 2: 2021-2025 under each program area and required AMS to identify new action lines under each program area based on AMCAP-IV 2026–2030. As newcomer to the ASEAN Community, there were action lines from the above-mentioned programs tasked to Timor-Leste to co-implement with other countries commencing 2026 onwards.
Moreover, there was a special agenda where Timor-Leste received guidance and recommendation from ASEAN Secretariat on its ASEAN membership including Work-Plan for Timor-Leste’s accession to the Ministerial Understanding on ASEAN Cooperation in Minerals, which will be signed by H.E. Sr. Francisco da Costa Monteiro, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in the upcoming ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Minerals (ASOMM) and ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Minerals (AMMin) planned to be held in late September in Lao PDR.
The delegations also participated in a workshop on Tailing Storage Facility and Environmental Management for ASEAN and a consultation session on the ASEAN Minerals Policy and Investment Guidebook. The participation in the meetings included the ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Member States, Timor-Leste, and ASEAN partners such as the World Bank, SEforAll, IGF, CCOP, AFMA, ESCAP, and USAID.
The program concluded with a half day cultural tour by the delegation to learn and explore the enriched and vibrant culture of Lao PDR.
