Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Hon. James Marape and Timor-Leste President H.E. Dr. José Ramos-Horta met on the margins of Vanuatu’s 46th Independence anniversary to advance regional security and higher education partnerships.
1,000-Strong Multinational Election Force Proposed
Prime Minister Marape initiated plans to request 200 defence personnel from Timor-Leste to help supervise the 2027 PNG National General Election.
The request is part of a broader strategy to build a 1,000-strong multinational election security and observation team, featuring 200 soldiers each from Timor-Leste, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Australia, and New Zealand. The Solomon Islands has already agreed to join the deployment.
“External support is vital to our strategy to lengthen actual polling time, allowing our citizens a peaceful environment to choose their leaders,” PM Marape stated.
A PNG Cabinet paper will soon formalize the structure before official letters are transmitted to lock in the contingent.
Joint Higher Education Scholarship Pact Launched
To develop regional academic talent, PM Marape extended a dollar-for-dollar matching scholarship offer to Timor-Leste students. Under the shared-cost model, PNG will fund half of the sponsored placements if Timor-Leste finances the rest.
The scholarship grants Timor-Leste youth full access to PNG’s tertiary networks, including specialized programs in law, mining engineering, and tropical medicine.
PM Marape is looking forward to progressing some of these discussions into formalisation so both nations can officially sign Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) during his upcoming reciprocal visit to Timor-Leste.
“PNG is ready to open the doors of our universities, technical trade schools, and law institutions to the future leaders of Timor-Leste,” PM Marape said, highlighting the cultural and diplomatic bonds uniting the two nations.
Deepening Regional and Cultural Bonds
The high-level discussions also touched on Bougainville and West Papua political matters.
The rapidly growing relationship builds on a shared Melanesian heritage, as an estimated 20 percent to 25 percent of Timor-Leste’s population is of direct Melanesian-Papuan composition.