After court ruling, Australia and East Timor discuss maritime boundary

Australia and East Timor aim for an agreement over the disputed maritime boundary in resource-rich waters between their countries, a court said on Thursday, signaling a deal could be reached by next September.

Confidential meetings between the two countries have been "very productive" and would continue next year, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said in a statement.

The court ordered compulsory arbitration in the case last month after East Timor requested the process against objections from Australia, which negotiated a revenue sharing agreement that gave it until 2056 to settle the boundary issue.

Australia played a critical role in East Timor's independence from Indonesia in 2002 and shortly after that negotiated the revenue sharing deal for the large Greater Sunrise oil and gas field. East Timor calls the deal unfair.

"All agreed we should aim to reach agreement within the timeframe of the conciliation process," the court said, referring to the compulsory arbitration. That process has a deadline of Sept. 19, 2017.

"I was very pleased to see a sincere willingness on both sides to come together in a spirit of cooperation," said Peter Taksoe-Jensen, who headed the arbitration talks.

"Both sides are to be commended for being willing to move beyond past differences and work hard to create conditions conducive to achieving an agreement."

East Timor appealed to the court for the arbitration that could determine the border through the Greater Sunrise oil and gas field. It has said that Australian espionage on its diplomats rendered recent agreements on it flawed.

East Timor says the boundary should fall halfway between it and Australia, which had argued that defining the border that way could prompt Indonesia to also seek to shift its sea border and gain ownership of disputed oil fields.

Greater Sunrise contains an estimated 5.1 trillion cubic feet of gas and 226 million barrels of condensate, although the border dispute and low gas prices mean its development is on hold.

(Reporting By Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Investel head confirms bid for Timor Telecom stake

Thursday 6 October 2016 | 17:28 CET | News

Timorese businessman Abilio Araujo confirmed to Lusa that the Investel group he heads presented a "firm and binding" bid for the purchase of Oi's stake in Timor Telecom. "As CEO of Investel I believe in the success of our proposal, the amount offered, strongly supported by equity and bank guarantee," he added. The Investel group is one of three candidates to purchase Oi's stake in Timor Telecom, alongside the ETO Group, Timorese businessman Nilton Gusmao, and a Fiji-based pension fund, according to the latest reports.

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/investel-head-confirms-bid-for-timor-telecom-stake--1165943 

Government Congratulates António Guterres

Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste

 Dili, October 8th, 2016

Timor-Leste congratulates H.E. António Guterres and Portugal on the announcement of his acceptance of the unanimous nomination of the United Nations Security Council to become the next United Nations Secretary-General.

Mr. Guterres was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015. He is held in great esteem by the Timorese people as a champion of our struggle for self-determination and a constant advocate for our Nation’s democracy, peace, stability and progress. He visited Timor-Leste for the first time in 2000, and subsequently in 2002 to be part of the ceremony of the Restoration of Independence.

The United Nations Security Council is recommending that the 193 Member States appoint him for a five-year term beginning 1 January 2017. A meeting of the General Assembly expected to take place next week to approve the appointment.

Over the years Mr. Guterres has expressed that the cause of the Timorese people has been “one of the most important causes in my political life” and has advocated for all to “work together to help this small country to be able to face its future with hope and with success.”

The appointment of Mr. Guterres will see him take over the leadership of the UN from Mr. Ban Ki-moon who has served two terms as the Secretary-General. Prime Minister Araújo recently expressed at the General Assembly “our deepest appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for all the support that Timor-Leste has received during his 10 years in office.”

Government Spokesperson, Minister of State Agio Pereira noted that “the people of Timor-Leste have great affection for António Guterres and warmly congratulate him on his nomination. We also congratulate Portugal. Mr. Guterres is a uniquely qualified individual for what will be a demanding time as Secretary–General when the organization is facing unprecedented global challenges. Timor-Leste is delighted to hear of his nomination and reassured that this important leadership role is to be taken on by a person with such intellect, experience and integrity.”ENDS

When Will Timor-Leste Join ASEAN?

A look at where the country’s admission to the regional grouping stands.

By Prashanth Parameswaran

October 06, 2016 

As ASEAN approaches the commemoration of its 50th anniversary next year, one of the key things to watch will be the organization’s progress in admitting an eleventh member: Timor-Leste. With Dili’s admission gaining traction over the past few years, it is worth looking more closely at the dynamics at play.

Expansion in ASEAN
Expansion is far from a new thing in ASEAN. Indeed, the ten-member regional grouping began with only five founding countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – signing the Bangkok Declaration in the Thai capital on August 8, 1967. Brunei joined ASEAN in 1984 after resuming full independence, followed by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (the so-called CLMV countries) in the 1990s.

Nor has it been without controversy. Indeed, as I repeatedly emphasize to outside observers overly fixated on divisions within the grouping on issues like the South China Sea, a key source of these differences lies in ASEAN’s decision to admit new members in 1990s despite concerns raised at the time ranging from these countries’ limited capacity to how they would slow regional integration. As ASEAN has taken some bold steps in its evolution as an institution in the years that followed – from the signing of the ASEAN Charter in 2007 to the formal declaration of an ASEAN Community in 2015 – we have seen both the benefits and the costs of its enlargement.

The Timor-Leste Case
Little wonder, then, that when Timor-Leste expressed its desire to join ASEAN soon after its independence in 2002, it was greeted with initial caution from several of the grouping’s members. Though there were in fact several different concerns, the dominant one was all-too-familiar: that Dili’s capacity was limited and that its admission now could further complicate community-building efforts.

Over the years since, however, ASEAN members have all accepted the idea of Timor-Leste’s eventual admission into ASEAN. The main hurdle was cleared back in 2011, when Indonesia agreed to support this during its chairmanship under former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. But even those previously hesitant about Dili’s membership, most notably Singapore, have gradually been warming to the notion, even though there continue to be differences as to how soon this should occur.

Process-wise, Timor-Leste’s accession is now all but assured. The feasibility studies commissioned on the impact of Dili’s admission on each of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community – the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community – have now all been completed. Dili has also established embassies in all ASEAN capitals and improved its ability to host ASEAN meetings and summits in recent years.

A case in point was Timor-Leste’s recent hosting of the ASEAN People’s Forum (APF). Though this was the product of Laos’ disappointing, if unsurprising, reluctance to host a regular meeting of Southeast Asian civil society organizations as ASEAN chair, Dili’s successful hosting of the meeting has been a boost for its admission as well.

The Road Ahead
The key question now is when exactly admission will occur. The next holders of the ASEAN chair, which rotates annually, are the Philippines in 2017 and Singapore in 2018. Manila could push things further next year, especially given the close ties between the two countries. But should Dili not cross the finish line by the end of 2017, that means it may have to wait till 2018 for Singapore’s chairmanship. The city-state had been the main holdout in approving Dili’s accession.

But regional factors are hardly the only ones that will shape Timor-Leste’s admission into ASEAN. Domestically, the country is set for elections next year. Even though we are still months away from polls, some are already worrying about either a return to political bickering or the domination of a national unity government without a meaningful opposition. While it is certainly true that many current ASEAN members have democracy woes of their own, democratic backsliding in Timor-Leste could nonetheless end up coloring perceptions about its admission.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to watch how Dili is gradually eased into ASEAN. One marker of that, for example, is the extent to which it is allowed to attend ASEAN meetings, and the nature of the engagements it is involved in. Though the ASEAN chairman’s statement following the latest round of summitry in September noted that “a number of sectoral bodies” have been exploring the possibility of Timor-Leste participating in their activities, a source familiar with the process noted that there have been disagreements about how this will actually play out.

It should also be noted that, as with previous new ASEAN admissions, the issues surrounding Timor-Leste’s entry into the regional grouping will continue to play out years after it joins. As other cases have shown, beyond the rhetoric of an ever-expanding ASEAN family, the widening of the regional tent has brought the grouping its fair share of challenges, whether it be its increased exposure to great power rivalry, additional problems with respect to democracy and human rights, or even the ability of new members to host the meetings central to advancing its work.