The Challenges, Development and Promise of Timor-Leste is a proceedings symposium publication of the Institute for Research on Portuguese-speaking Countries -  City University of Macau - and it will be launched at the beginning of the second quarter of 2019. This first volume is the result of an international collective research, presented on 30 October 2018, during the first event organized by the City University of Macau’s think tank for strategic studies on Timor-Leste: the Timor-Leste Studies International Series Symposium “Transitions and the Belt & Road Initiative (B&RI)”.

      This first international symposium gathered twenty scholars and practitioners from People's Republic of China, Macau SAR, Hong Kong SAR, Australia,   Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Malaysia Federation and Republic of Portugal.

       After a call for papers and a careful selection of all the applications, 12 papers were selected and 4 external renowned academics were invited to             participate as discussants and panel chairs. Therefore, the symposium was an opportunity to study, present and debate three complementary areas: Timor-  Leste transitional challenges and processes, Belt and Road Initiative and Timor-Leste, and Timor-Leste, Macau and Sustainable Development. 

      Finally, the Timor-Leste Studies International Series Symposium “Transitions and the Belt & Road Initiative (B&RI)” was chaired by Bendito dos Santos       Freitas, HE Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to the People’s Republic of China.