The Royal Thai Embassy in Dili, in collaboration with the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), organized specialized training workshops to support Timor-Leste’s coffee sector. The workshops took place at Quinta Portugal in Aileu on 24–25 June and Timor Global in Ermera on 26–27 June 2025. Located in the heart of Timor-Leste’s main coffee-growing regions, these venues were selected to facilitate participation by local coffee farmers, who are the primary beneficiaries of the training. The workshops received positive response from local communities with more than 80 participants, including farmers and other key stakeholders from across the entire coffee value chain.
The workshops were organized in partnership with Association Café Timor (ACT), Quinta Portugal Project under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal and Timor Global. Four of Thailand’s top coffee experts from the Specialty Coffee Association of Thailand (SCATH) conducted the sessions, covering topics from farm management, soil health analysis, making fertilizer from local microorganism, pest control to coffee processing. The objectives of these training programs were to help increase coffee production and improve quality while preserving Timor-Leste’s strong organic coffee identity.
Ms. Waranya Chanthapun, Counsellor and representative of the Royal Thai Embassy, highlighted at the opening of the workshops that Thailand has been a long-standing development partner of Timor-Leste. She noted that this initiative marks a new chapter of cooperation in the coffee sector, where Thailand’s unique position as a coffee-growing country allows it to share practical and hands-on expertise that directly benefit Timorese coffee farmers on the ground.
The workshops also provided good opportunities for a two-way exchange of knowledge and experience, allowing Thai and Timorese farmers and professionals to learn from each other. Participants expressed appreciation for the practical skills gained and the opportunity to strengthen the sustainability and quality of Timor-Leste’s coffee industry. They were especially inspired by the journey of Mr. Wichai Kamnerdmongkol, one of the trainers, who combined knowledge and hard work to become a successful coffee farmer in Thailand.
This initiative reflects Thailand’s ongoing commitment to supporting Timor-Leste’s economic diversification and environmental sustainability through targeted technical cooperation, which also helps to strengthen people-to-people contacts and expand private sector networks between the two countries. This project builds on the study visit of Timorese coffee stakeholders to Thailand in November 2024. Both countries look forward to building a long-term partnership that will continue to enhance Timor-Leste’s coffee industry and improve livelihood of local farmers and communities.
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