The message was delivered by Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung during a meeting with Mr. Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu, Minister of Transport and Communications of Timor-Leste. The bilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the 6th ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting (ADGMIN) in Hanoi.

At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung congratulated Timor-Leste on becoming an official member of ASEAN. He noted that the inclusion of a new ASEAN member would create more opportunities for exchange and mutual support in the digital sector. Meanwhile, Minister Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu praised Vietnam’s organization of ADGMIN, saying the conference had provided a valuable platform for countries to strengthen dialogue on digital cooperation.

Mr. Miguel shared that Telemor—a telecom operator with Vietnamese investment—is developing strongly in Timor-Leste. The company has already deployed 5G services and is promoting plans to build a data center. According to him, Telemor serves as a model of effective cooperation between the two countries in telecommunications and digital technology.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung thanked the Government of Timor-Leste for creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises, especially Telemor, to invest and operate in the country. In discussions with his counterpart, he emphasized that Vietnam is willing to share experience in developing telecommunications, information technology, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and data centers, as well as support Timor-Leste in deploying digital payments and electronic invoicing.

“Vietnam is also ready to share experience in building legal and institutional frameworks, such as telecommunications law, spectrum law, digital transformation law, and legislation on artificial intelligence,” Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said.

Another topic of mutual interest was human resource development. Minister Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu expressed his hope that Timor-Leste could make better use of scholarship programs offered by the Vietnamese Government to Timorese students.

According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, beyond scholarship programs, Timor-Leste could also refer to Vietnam’s digital university model. This model features low costs and is well suited to the practical conditions of developing countries. In addition to higher education, Vietnam also offers short-term training programs for officials and civil servants in science and technology, telecommunications, and digital transformation, with courses conducted in English.

Minister Miguel noted that the areas of cooperation proposed by Vietnam align well with Timor-Leste’s development needs and expressed his desire to strengthen coordination between agencies of the two countries. At the conclusion of the meeting, the two ministers agreed to maintain bilateral exchanges and develop concrete cooperation programs.

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