Mr. Antunes has far-reaching 15 years of work experiences in Trade, Industry, value chain, and community development with various organisations both national and international organisations. Norway, Timor-Leste, and in many different countries.
He served as a Policy and Planning Adviser in July 2017 and later as a Trade and Industrial Policy Advisor up to June 2020 in the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce, and Industry (MTCI). During that time, Mr. Antunes elaborated Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s long-term strategic plan to diversify Timor-Leste’s trade and industrial sector that aims to provide more sustainable job creations and a decent income, support the national private sector for exporting and promote the enabling trade and investment environment.
He has led several roles and provided technical support while working with the MTCI, which required a successful trade and industrial policy action plan’s implementation. Furthermore, He coordinated technical support preparations for Timor-Leste accessions to the World Trade Organization (WTO), EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and ASEAN Economic Community. Mr. Antunes also supported the studies and development of the first Timor-Leste’s industrial park in Liquiça Municipality, developed and promoted value chain for import substitution and export, supported the establishment of a loan guarantee scheme for M-SMEs with UNDP, and supporting current initiatives of the reform on commercial, industrial and tourism licenses. Moreover, he also defined and as a co-author of the first-ever Timor-Leste industrial policy document and embedded the value chain tool. He is currently drafting and supporting the development of Timor-Leste trade policy and trade strategy as the ADB co-financing partner under the Capacity for Regional Economic Integration Project.
Before his ministry role, Mr. Antunes served as a GIZ Senior Advisor in the Innovative Employment Promotion Project (IEP) in August 2015 whereby the MTCI and MAF as the primary implementation partners, while the target groups were entrepreneurs, traders, and cooperatives. The IEP project focused on promoting value chains to identify and create income and employment opportunities. Mr. Antunes has significantly performed as a value chain specialist, and GIZ applied the value chain in cooperation with its political partners (MTCI) at national and local levels.
Previously, Mr. Antunes was also serving as a UN-ESCAP national consultant for cross-border paperless trade to assess the legal and technical preparedness of Timor-Leste with International Experts for cross-border paperless trade. Besides, Mr. Antunes is also serving INTEGRA – USAID Timor-Leste as a National Expert for Customs Reform Project with the Ministry of Finance of Timor-Leste as a political counterpart. Both projects address Timor-Leste’s trade facilitation needs, particularly in a rapid digitalizing global economy, improving current customs status and operating environment, legal and regulatory environment, and compliance with international practices.
Academically, Mr. Antunes holds a master’s degree with a specialization in International Business from the Nordland University of Norway and has bachelor’s degree in economics from the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL). During his academic year, He has participated in several conferences related to trade, industry, tourism, trade facilitation, and energy in Norway, Timor-Leste, and in many different countries.