H.E. Ms. Emilia Pires
Minister of Finance, Timor-Leste
Ms. Pires is the Minister of Finance of Timor-Leste. Ms. Pires has a background in development, and senior experience in planning, public finance management, development and aid policies. Ms. Pires also Co-Chairs the International Dialogue of Peacebuilding and Statebuilding with the Netherlands, which has recently taken over from the United Kingdom. Ms. Pires began her professional career as a junior public servant in the Victorian Government in her early 20s. She then rose to senior management level. Before becoming Minister of Finance, Ms. Pires held senior positions with the World Bank, Senior Aid Management Specialist in West Bank and Gaza, where she advised both the Ministries of Finance and Planning of the Palestinian Authority and donors on aid coordination to the economic sector. She worked as UNMISET’s Senior Advisor to the Timor-Leste Ministry of Planning and Finance, United Nations. She was also UNTAET’s Head of the Planning Commission Secretariat as well as the Chief of the National Development and Planning Agency (NPDA), and Chief of the National Development and Planning Agency (NPDA).