SCIENCE FOR DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT
Closing Speech – President Ramos-Horta
CCD, 25 August 2026, at 16H30
Excellencies,
Distinguished Nobel Laureates and Turing Award winners,
Scientists, researchers and innovators,
Students and young people of Timor-Leste,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It has been a great pleasure to be with you all here in Dili for this Science for Development Summit.
As we bring this remarkable gathering to a close, we can reflect on several days of enquiry, conversation and discovery—and, I hope, on new friendships and partnerships that will continue long after we leave this room.
We have been honoured to host so many extraordinary scientists, thinkers and leaders from around the world.
Above all, I hope this gathering will be remembered for the relationships it has created: between scientists and policymakers, between international knowledge and local experience, and especially between some of the world’s most accomplished minds and the young people who will shape our future.
We have called this a Summit on Science for Development. After several days of panels and workshops, we should remind ourselves what those words mean.
Science has transformed human existence. Yet we must always remember a very simple question: How do these advances help those who need them most?
For science to serve humanity, its benefits cannot belong only to the countries, universities, companies or individuals who can best afford them.
A discovery made in a laboratory thousands of kilometres from here can also matter to a farmer in Baucau wondering how to protect a crop from drought; to a mother in Oecusse seeking better healthcare for her child; to a teacher in Ermera trying to inspire a classroom; or to a young Timorese student looking at the night sky and wondering whether she too might one day become a scientist.
This is where science becomes development: when we harness knowledge and experience and apply them to our local context.
For countries like Timor-Leste, this is not an abstract discussion.
When we restored our independence, we had to rebuild institutions, schools, roads, clinics and an economy.
We have made enormous progress. But poverty, malnutrition, food insecurity and unequal access to opportunity remain challenges that cannot be solved by economic growth alone.
They require knowledge. They require education. They require research. And they require the courage to apply knowledge to the real problems of ordinary people as the world changes around us.
But understanding is not enough. Knowledge must reach the communities that need it. Technology must be affordable. Research partnerships must build local capacity rather than permanent dependence. And we must create the conditions in which young scientists from developing countries can build institutions and make discoveries of their own.
Science also requires something that no government can manufacture and no university can command: curiosity and belief.
So to the young people in this room, I remind you what we have learned from our guests. Every great discovery begins with someone refusing to accept that the world must remain exactly as it is.
Someone asks: Why?
Someone asks: Why not?
Someone asks: What if we tried something different?
Any one of us can ask these questions.
Do not imagine that science belongs to somebody else. Do not imagine that discovery happens only in Boston, Oxford, Singapore, Tokyo or Beijing. The capacity to observe, to question, to experiment and to imagine belongs to every human being. You must believe in yourselves and each other.
Your home itself is a magnificent laboratory of possibility.
We possess extraordinary oceans and marine biodiversity. We have unique ecosystems, agricultural traditions, languages and indigenous knowledge. We stand between Southeast Asia and the Pacific. And we are a young nation with an extraordinarily young population.
We have much to learn from the world. But we also have something to contribute.
Over these past days, we have heard many ideas that should stay with us. We have heard that science must begin with the real problems our people face: that no child should have their future diminished by malnutrition when knowledge already exists to improve nutrition, seeds, food production and the management of water; that our greatest national resource is our people, and that we must identify and develop the talent that already exists in Timor-Leste; and that while artificial intelligence and digital technologies offer extraordinary opportunities, we must embrace them with wisdom—using technology to expand human capability, never to replace our capacity to think, question and decide.
As Princess Sonam reminded us, scientific progress must go hand in hand with human responsibility. And as our Prime Minister reminded us, Timor-Leste cannot allow itself to be left behind as the world enters a new technological era.
For a young country such as ours, this means being open to innovation while building our own knowledge, institutions and human capacity—so that we become not simply consumers of technologies developed elsewhere, but increasingly participants in creating the solutions we need.
Perhaps the most important lesson from these discussions is that development is ultimately about people and the sharing of ideas.
The purpose of gatherings such as this should not simply be to bring knowledge to Timor-Leste. It should be to create knowledge with Timor-Leste.
It is with that spirit that I hope the relationships begun here in Dili will continue well beyond this Summit.
Many of our distinguished guests have generously spoken about remaining connected with Timor-Leste—whether through mentoring young people, sharing advice and expertise, supporting research and academic partnerships, or simply continuing the exchange of ideas we have begun.
I would like to thank all of you for that generosity, and to extend an open invitation to remain part of Timor-Leste’s journey.
We would be delighted to create a Timor-Leste Advisory Council on Science, Technology and Development—not as a formal or burdensome institution, but simply as a network through which those who wish to remain engaged can stay connected with our Government, universities, researchers and young people.
There should be no heavy structures or obligations. What matters is that we keep the door open: for a conversation with a student, a virtual lecture, advice on a particular challenge, an introduction between institutions, a research collaboration, or simply the occasional exchange of ideas.
Even small contributions from people with such extraordinary knowledge and experience can have an enormous impact in a young country such as ours.
To our distinguished scientists and international guests, I thank you again for sharing your time and expertise so generously—and, above all, for the inspiration you have given us.
I know there will be young people in this hall who leave this Summit more curious about science, more ambitious about what they can achieve, and perhaps inspired to pursue a scientific career of their own.
And to those young people, I say: one day, you could be sitting on a stage like this. Here in Dili or somewhere far away, telling others what you have learned and discovered, inspiring them to follow in your footsteps, and showing how your knowledge has benefited your country.
Perhaps, one day, we will all be learning from you.
As we close this Summit, my commitment is that what began here in Dili does not end here. Let the conversations continue, let the partnerships grow, and let the ideas discussed here become practical action in our schools, communities, universities and institutions.
Science gives humanity extraordinary power.
Our responsibility is to ensure that it also gives us wisdom—and that its benefits and opportunities are enjoyed not by a fortunate few, but by all, no matter where they may begin their voyage of discovery.
Thank you very much.
May God Bless us all!