Recently, Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences（FFRC，CAFS） successfully completed the task of “Overseas Seminar on Fishery Development and International Cooperation in Timor-Leste”, and held the closing ceremony in Dili, Timor-Leste on March 26. Xu Danyang, Minister Counselor of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Timor-Leste, Domingos da Conceição dos Santos, State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Forestry of Timor-Leste, Ervina S. Pinto, Director General of International Cooperation, Celestino da Cunha Barreto, Director of the General Directorate of Fisheries, Ipolito da Costa, Director of the Department of Human Resources and Training, and Researcher Zhu Jian, Member of the Party Committee and Director of the Scientific Research Division of FFRC, attended the closing ceremony and delivered speeches.

This project is guided by Academy for International Business Officials of the MOFCOM, and is strongly supported by the Department of International Cooperation and the Bureau of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, and the Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of China in Timor-Leste. The project has organized 11 senior experts from FFRC and Jiangsu Marine Fisheries Research Institute to go to Timor-Leste to carry out technical training and guidance. The experts have overcome various difficulties in life and work, and carried out the teaching and practice of seven modules, such as “agricultural and fishery industry development and management”, “marine capture”, “marine aquaculture”, “fish nutrition and feed development”, “fishery resources management”, “international cooperation” and “cultural exchange” according to local conditions. The project has displayed and disseminated China’s advanced fishery and aquaculture technology and industry development experience, and has achieved remarkable results.

Through various forms such as special lectures, practices, summary reviews, group discussions, group reports, field research, etc., this project has effectively disseminated China’s development experience and practical technology in the field of responsible fisheries and green aquaculture industry, and demonstrated the achievements of China’s “Belt and Road” international cooperation and its responsibility as a major country. At the same time, the project also fully showed the basic situation, development bottlenecks and technical needs of Timor-Leste’s fishery and aquaculture industry.

At the closing ceremony, the Secretary of State Domingos da Conceição dos Santos expressed his thanks to the Chinese experts and issued an appreciation letter to FFRC. He firmly believes that China’s fishery and aquaculture technology and management experience will empower the future development of Timor-Leste’s fishery industry, and hopes that the field and depth of cooperation with FFRC will continue to expand in the future. Minister Counselor Xu Danyang said in his speech that “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day”, and the Chinese government has supported the development of industries such as agriculture, livestock, fishery and forestry in Timor-Leste for a long time, and attaches great importance to cooperation in human resources development. It is hoped that through capacity building, the people of Timor-Leste will be able to master more agricultural and fishery technologies, and contribute Chinese wisdom to improving the income of Timorese farmers and fishermen, increasing the supply of better and more nutritious animal protein, and creating more jobs. Director Zhu Jian said that under the guidance of President Xi’s leadership and personal engagement, FFRC will continue to share China’s fishery technology and fishery solutions with the support of the Ministry of Commerce of China, the Chinese Embassy in Timor-Leste and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Forestry of Timor-Leste, and work hand in hand with Timor-Leste fishery colleagues on the journey of modernization to build a closer community with a shared future for fisheries between China and Timor-Leste.

During the seminar, the expert team also had in-depth exchanges with Minister Marcos da Cruz, Secretary of State Domingos da Conceição dos Santos, Director Celestino da Cunha Barreto, Director Ipolito da Costa and all the participants of the seminar, and reached an agreement on the future fisheries cooperation between FFRC and Timor-Leste.

This training project is the first foreign aid training project implemented by FFRC in 2024, and has achieved remarkable results. In 2024, FFRC will uphold the concept of “teaching people to fish and develop together”, adhere to the “characteristic courses” and “characteristic projects”, disseminate technologies with high efficiency and quality, promote cooperation, enhance connectivity and cultural identity, and make new and greater contributions to serving global fishery governance and building a community with a shared future for mankind with the bright business card of foreign aid fishery training.