Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão was the leader of the Timorese Resistance and became the first elected President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. He would also serve as Prime Minister.

In 2016 he was appointed Chief Negotiator of the Council for the Final Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries. He led negotiations with Australia, including the first ever Compulsory Conciliation mechanism under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which resulted in the Maritime Boundary Treaty with Australia.

In 2018 he was appointed as Special Representative for negotiating land boundaries with Indonesia. The process for delimitating final maritime boundaries is still ongoing.

In December 2019 he was appointed Timor-Leste’s Special Representative for the Blue Economy.