On the 15 of May 2019 (Friday), Dr. Danilo Afonso-Henriques, Delegate of Timor-Leste to Forum Macau, delivered a conference on ‘Geopolitics of Timor-Leste’ (Venue /金龍校區 GD513) in English language. For more than two hours, students and guests exchanged points of view related to the history, present and future of Timor-Leste. Among the most discussed topics were the colonial heritage, cultural identity, development plans, regional sovereign relations, resources diversity and the role of China and Macau.

Timor-Leste is part of the G7+ Group of Fragile Nations, member of the Non-aligned Movement, the United Nations, a state of the Coral Triangle Initiative, a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), an active member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, and in 2011 - East-Timor announced its intention to gain membership status in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Timor-Leste is part of a free trade zone, the Timor-Leste - Indonesia - Australia Growth Triangle (TIA-GT) and it has gained observer status to the WTO. Timor-Leste practices “Nice Diplomacy” and views foreign affairs at four levels: Neighborhood (Indonesia, Papua and Australia), Regional Partners (People’s Republic of China - MSAR, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and ASEAN), Special Partners (Portugal, Brazil and the CPLP) and Global Partners (the United Nations and the European Union). Side-by-side with the growing importance of remittances, rising tourism industries and developing commerce activities, Timor-Leste has set course to an internationally integrated society.