U.S. Ambassador Karen Stanton Remarks on the Closing Ceremony of the Harii Hamutuk Exercise

Acknowledgements and Good Morning

I am very pleased to be here once again to mark the successful end of Harii Hamutuk.

I am proud of the work of the United States Navy Seabees and the United States Marines. The work that you have done here along with service members from Timor-Leste, Australia and Japan to improve the health center in Sidara will benefit the community here in the area.

Of course Timor-Leste will benefit from the projects you completed during this exercise. But the skills that you have learned working side by side with partners from the four countries will have long lasting benefits for all the participants. Most importantly of all, you learn to work together.   That way, should you ever need to work together in an emergency situation somewhere in the region, you will already know how to cooperate and build together.

To our hosts in the F-FDTL, thank you for your warm welcome to the members of the United States military. To the women and men of the United States military, thank you for coming here and helping with our mission in Timor-Leste.   I wish you safe travels home.

To all of you, I wish you continued success in the future. Thank you!