DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR-LESTE

Timor-Leste Flag

 Map of Southeast Asia

Timor-Leste Map

Brief information on Timor-Leste

Above information extracted from http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=547&lang=en

Timor Leste, with a total area of 14,874 sq km, is located at Southeastern Asia, northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago.  Timor-Leste includes the eastern half of the island of Timor, the Oecussi (Ambeno) region on the northwest portion of the island of Timor, and the islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco.  The climate is tropical; hot, humid; with distinct rainy and dry seasons.  The capital is Dili. 

Timor Leste’s economy – Since its 1999 independence, Timor-Leste has faced great challenges in rebuilding its infrastructure, strengthening the civil administration, and generating jobs for young people entering the work force. The development of oil and gas resources in offshore waters has greatly supplemented government revenues. This technology-intensive industry, however, has done little to create jobs for the unemployed in part because there are no production facilities in Timor-Leste. Gas is piped to Australia. In June 2005, the National Parliament unanimously approved the creation of a Petroleum Fund to serve as a repository for all petroleum revenues and to preserve the value of Timor-Leste’s petroleum wealth for future generations. The Fund held assets of US$9.3 billion as of December 2011.  The economy continues to recover from the mid-2006 outbreak of violence and civil unrest, which disrupted both private and public sector economic activity. Government spending increased markedly from 2009 through 2012, primarily on basic infrastructure, including electricity and roads. Limited experience in procurement and infrastructure building has hampered these projects. The underlying economic policy challenge the country faces remains how best to use oil-and-gas wealth to lift the non-oil economy onto a higher growth path and to reduce poverty. On the strength of its oil-wealth, the economy has achieved real growth between 8-12% per year for the last several years, among the highest sustained growth rates in the world.

(Extracted from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tt.html)

Timor Leste’s Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030
Extracted from: http://timor-leste.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Timor-Leste-Strategic-Plan-2011–20301.pdf

Introduction & Overview

The Timor-Leste Strategic Development Plan is a twenty year vision that reflects the aspirations of the Timorese people to create a prosperous and strong nation. The plan has been developed to inspire change, to support bold collective action and to plan for a better future.

The Plan incorporates the vision of the Timorese people in ‘Timor-Leste 2020, Our Nation Our Future’ which formed the basis of the 2002 National Development Plan.  It also reflects the views of the thousands of Timorese people who contributed to the national consultation on the Summary Strategic Development Plan, From Conflict to Prosperity, in 2010.

Since independence in 2002, Timor-Leste’s social and economic policies have focused on alleviating poverty to address the immediate needs of our people, consolidating security and stability, and providing a foundation for nationhood through building institutions of State. This ongoing process of peace building and state building has been necessary to create a base from which Timor-Leste can address our people’s health and education needs and work towards the elimination of extreme poverty. While it normally takes post-conflict countries at least ten to 15 years to recover stability, Timor-Leste has achieved a safe and secure environment in less than a decade. We now have the benefits of peace, stability and a growing economy as we continue to build our nation.

In the last three years, Timor-Leste has experienced double-digit economic growth and a general improvement in people’s welfare. Sector reforms and significant investments in the economy have taken place and the development of the oil and gas sector has begun. Our successes so far are due to the resilience of our people. It was our strong sense of self-determination that drove us to achieve independence after 400 years of colonisation and 24 years of occupation.

The same self-determination should now be applied to implementing the vision of the Timorese people through the Strategic Development Plan. Four key attributes of our nation mean that we are well placed to achieve our vision: political will, economic potential, national integration and a dynamic population.

Economic potential:

Timor-Leste has valuable natural resources, including one of the world’s most vital commodities, petroleum. The development of the petroleum sector can help to secure the foundations of a sustainable and vibrant economy. The revenue from the sector can be invested in education and health services for families and in helping farmers to increase their productivity so that our agriculture sector becomes a leading driver of private sector jobs. This revenue can also help to fund the infrastructure necessary to build a diversified economy and transform our country into a modern nation. Timor-Leste can also take advantage of our location in East Asia, a powerhouse of the world economy. In the Asian century, and close to emerging economic giants, Timor-Leste is well positioned to trade and partner with our neighbours to achieve rapid and unprecedented economic growth.

National integration:

Timor-Leste is a small country with a land size of about 15,000 km2 and a population of 1,066,409.  This makes Timor-Leste well placed to establish effective connections across our population, between our urban and rural areas, and between our government and our people –helping us to quickly achieve national integration and rapid economic development.  Connecting our people with each other and to the world is a central objective of the Strategic Development Plan. Improved telecommunications, roads, ports and airports will be necessary to achieve strong economic growth and improve human development. Part of the strategy will also involve supporting the development of regional growth corridors and measured urbanisation to achieve a balance between rural and urban living.

Dynamism:

Timor-Leste is a young country with a young population. Over half of our population is under the age of 19. While this creates challenges, it also provides enormous opportunities for our emerging nation. Over the next decades, our young generation will become the greater part of our workforce and will respond to new opportunities with dynamism, creativity and enthusiasm. As this new generation masters new technologies and joins our workforce, they will drive economic growth and development.

BACKGROUND

The strategies and actions set out in the Strategic Development Plan aim to transition Timor-Leste from a low income to upper middle income country, with a healthy, well educated and safe population by 2030.

The 2002 National Development Plan envisaged that by 2020:
• Timor-Leste will be a prosperous society with adequate food, shelter and clothing for all people.
• People will be literate, knowledgeable and skilled. They will be healthy and live long, productive lives. They will actively participate in economic, social and political development, promoting social equality and national unity.
• People will no longer be isolated, because there will be good roads, transport, electricity and communications in the towns and villages in all regions of the country.
• Production and employment will increase in all sectors – agriculture, fisheries and forestry.
• Living standards and services will improve for all Timorese.

Timor-Leste’s Strategic Development Plan is an integrated package of strategic policies to be implemented in the short-term (one to five years), in the medium term (five to ten years) and in the long-term (ten to 20 years). It is aligned with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, but it is more than a set of targets. It is about setting out a pathway to long-term, sustainable, inclusive development in Timor-Leste.

The plan aims to develop core infrastructure, human resources and the strength of our society, and to encourage the growth of private sector jobs in strategic industry sectors – a broad based agriculture sector, a thriving tourism industry and downstream industries in the oil and gas sector.

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The Strategic Development Plan covers three key areas: social capital, infrastructure development and economic development. Following this introduction, the second part focuses on our nation’s social capital and on building a healthy and educated society to address the social needs of our people and promote human development. The third part will ensure that our nation has the core and productive infrastructure needed to build a sustainable, growing and connected nation. The fourth part covers economic development to achieve a prosperous, modern economy and jobs for our people. These three different aspects of Timor-Leste’s development will be built on an effective institutional framework, which is set out in part five, and a strong macroeconomic foundation which is discussed in part 6.

Part 7 sets out the conclusion and staging of the Strategic Development Plan to 2030.

Read more at http://timor-leste.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Timor-Leste-Strategic-Plan-2011-20301.pdf

  FORUM ON “TRADE AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN TIMOR-LESTE” ON 1ST APRIL 2014

H.E. Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste hosted a Forum on “Trade and Investment Opportunities in Timor Leste” in collaboration with the Ministry of International Trade & Industry, Malaysia at MATRADE Hall, Kuala Lumpur. 

The objective of the forum was to provide an insight on Timor-Leste’s economy relating to trade and investment developments and business opportunities as well as to take on any questions, proposals or ideas by the Malaysian businessman.

YB Datuk Ir. Hj. Hamim Samuri, Deputy Minister of International Trade & Industry, Malaysia delivered the Welcome Remarks at this forum.

At the Business Forum, the Prime Minister gave a keynote speech highlighting Timor Leste’s young and growing economy, the trade, investment and business opportunities.  The oil and gas sector is the main contributor to the economy. 

Other Sectors for Potential Investments include:

a) Fishery Investment – Timor Leste has a coast line of 730 km.  Actual productivity using mostly traditional fishing activities is 3600 ton/annum but there is potential to increase this to 640,000 tons per annum;

b) Life Stock – poultry and beef are currently imported from Australia, Brazil, New Zealand and Holland.  In 2012, imports of poultry amounted to 31,368 tons while beef accounted for 731.3 tons.   Other meats include pork and mutton which are also imported into Timor Leste.  A total of 1,561 tons of eggs was imported into the country in 2012, mainly from Malaysia and Australia.

c) Timor Leste is also promoting import substitution industries as most of their goods are imported.

d) Infrastructure and property development

He also extended an invitation to Malaysians to visit and do business in his country.

Mr Matthew Tee of Bina Puri Holdings Bhd and  President of Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) and Mr Aziz Bahaman of Norwest Holdings Sdn Bhd and Deputy President of MBAM, both MASSA members were also present at the forum.

Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary and Ms Florence Khoo represented MASSA at this forum.

 (center) H.E. Pedro Lay Da Silva, Minister of Transport And Communication of

Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste with (left) Mr Matthew Tee and 

(right) Mr Aziz Bahaman  

(left to right) Ms Ng Su Fun, H.E. Pedro Lay Da Silva and Mr Aziz Bahaman

CONTACT DETAILS

Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

62, Jalan Ampang Hilir

55000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603-4256 2046 / 4256 2078

Fax: +603-4256 2016

Email: embaixada_tl_kl@yahoo.com