Timor-Leste plans to preserve tais through training and legal protection
Partners are teaching young people to weave, while the government plans to implement legislation protecting tais designs and production.
Timor-Leste’s government plans to strengthen support for tais preservation and pass weaving skills to younger generations, Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture Nelyo Isaac Sarmento said in Dili on 13 October 2026.
Speaking at the Nicolau Lobato Presidential Palace in Bairru Pite, Sarmento said UNESCO’s recognition of tais as Timor-Leste’s cultural heritage needed to be followed by practical preservation and promotion efforts. He warned that future interest could decline if young people were unwilling to wear tais.
The Secretariat of State for Arts and Culture is working with Timor Aid, the Alola Foundation and networks of tais weavers on preservation. The two partner organisations are training young people in weaving as an initial step towards bringing them closer to tais production.
Sarmento said further discussions with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the secretariat and partner groups would address support for the tais network. As part of that work, the government plans to begin implementing legislation to protect tais motifs and production.
He also said members of the National Parliament had begun wearing tais to set an example and support weavers. A government resolution requiring all ministries to use tais at least once a week had not achieved 100 per cent compliance, with prices still under discussion.
