Ramos Horta Meets Prabowo at Palace, Brings 20 Nobel Laureate Delegates

Timor-Leste President José Ramos Horta met Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Friday (28/8). During the visit, Ramos Horta brought around 20 delegates, including a number of Nobel laureates.

Deputy Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said the meeting was a courtesy call by Ramos Horta to President Prabowo. “Today President Ramos Horta brought around 20 delegates who are Nobel laureates, having just come from a meeting on science in Timor-Leste held on 24-26 August. So it was just a courtesy call to the President,” Arrmanatha told reporters at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Friday.

Arrmanatha explained that the Nobel laureates in Ramos Horta’s entourage came from various fields. The delegation included peace figures as well as scientists from the fields of science, chemistry and other disciplines.

Ramos Horta’s visit to the Presidential Palace took place after he attended a science-related event in Timor-Leste on 24-26 August 2026. Around 20 Nobel laureate delegates took part in the visit.

In addition to meeting Prabowo, Ramos Horta and a number of Nobel laureates and Turing Award winners were previously scheduled to hold a dialogue with Indonesia’s fifth President Megawati Soekarnoputri in Jakarta on Friday.

PDI Perjuangan Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto confirmed the agenda through a written statement received in Jakarta on Friday. According to Hasto, the dialogue at the Megawati Institute discussed developments in science and technology and their influence on humanity.

Figures mentioned as attending the meeting included President Ramos Horta, Timor-Leste Ambassador to Indonesia Roberto Sarmento de Oliveira Soares, 1997 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences Robert C. Merton and his wife Anita Merton, and National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Steering Board member Bambang Kesowo.