Cross-Border Payments: Indonesia is expanding QRIS Antarnegara to make cross-border payments easier for tourists and boost spending with a new “Indonesia Travel Pack” platform, building on links already covering Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and China. Energy & Engineering: Fugro won new Timor-Leste contracts for heavy geotechnical and metocean surveys supporting the Greater Sunrise TLNG pipeline and the Bayu-Undan Pipeline Highway, with field work planned for early 2027 after earlier geophysical work. Labour Mobility: Australia confirmed Timor-Leste as eligible for its Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, opening legal work placements for citizens across 10 Pacific countries. ASEAN Trade Links: Timor-Leste’s debut as an official ASEAN member at the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning is being used to push cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure and the digital economy. Heritage & Tourism Assets: Timor-Leste designated Tutuala’s Cultural Landscape and Portuguese-origin architecture in Dili and Liquiçá as National Cultural Heritage, setting up legal protection and conservation work. Women & Local Industry: The government is urging women-owned enterprises to scale up using local resources, tackling informality and low monthly revenues in retail, food services and livestock.