East Timor’s president-elect, José Ramos-Horta, has called on Portugal and Macau SAR to collaborate with the country to establish regular Lisbon-Macau-Dili flights.

In an interview with Lusa, Horta stated that he will take advantage of an official visit by the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, for the occasion of his own inauguration to request help in drumming up investment from Portuguese companies in the country, with the regional potential in mind.

He said that Portugal, Macau SAR and East Timor should support EuroAtlantic in making regular Lisbon-Macau-Dili flights, which is commercially totally viable.

The president-elect also stressed the importance of economic ties, stating that with East Timor’s accession to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “in the next two years” the country would be part of a free-trade region with $4 trillion of GDP.