Xanana Gusmao, Timor Leste and regional politics | The Jakarta Post
Fitri Bintang Timur, Singapore | Opinion | Mon, June 17 2013, 11:26 AM
Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao is often said to be the Che Guevara of the country. His charisma and charm helped him escape troubled times before his nation gained independence. Perhaps one day he might realize his dream to become a pumpkin farmer and persuade neighboring countries to accept Timor Leste as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In his lecture in Singapore last week, Gusmao explained the state of the country after the UN mission progressively withdrew in 2012. He also asserted that Timor Leste was committed to playing a more active international role by becoming a member of ASEAN as and when membership is granted.
Despite the looming domestic challenges of human resource development, lack of infrastructure, shortage of capital and socio-physiological trauma of the past, Gusmao is confident that his country can be of benefit to the region. Asia-Pacific countries will profit from Timor Leste’s strategic location as the connector between two regional organizations — ASEAN and the Pacific Island Forum — thus creating opportunities for wider trade and cooperation. The country also has a good relationship with Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu that could benefit ASEAN.
In the face of global nervousness over China’s emerging power in Asia Pacific, Gusmao stressed that the region was big enough to accommodate large powers seeking to build a better future for the region; thus, the fear of China was unnecessary. There are other large economies in the region, such as Japan, Korea and Indonesia, but there is no tension surrounding them.
Gusmao recalled his cynical response to one Western journalist’s question a couple of months back. The journalist suspected that Timor Leste was now influenced by China’s soft power after the “rising dragon” funded the construction of the country’s Presidential Palace and Foreign Ministry. To which Gusmao retorted, “China is not ‘invading’ Timor Leste; in fact, China’s investment in the country is only around US$60 million. Comparatively, it is still far below the money that China has invested in other countries.” There is a truth in Gusmao’s statement as China’s investments in the US, Australia and Indonesia reached US$54 billion, $55.9 billion and $25 billion, respectively (Heritage Foundation, 2012).
Rather than nitpicking over a certain country, Asia-Pacific nations would be advised to acknowledge its challenges. Gusmao said the region should focus on solving the issues of poverty, inequality, violence toward women and girls and regional security tensions. He offered alternative solutions of strengthening cooperation and building shared interests rather than highlighting conflicting issues. He provided a measurement of progress by reminding countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which will be reviewed in 2015.
For ASEAN, action should focus on constructive measures with further cooperation in the areas of economics, the environment and building human resource capacity. Gusmao admitted that his country was in need of support for human resource capacity-building and strategy. The international fear, however, is that when the three prominent leaders of Timor Leste — Xanana Gusmao, Mari Alkatiri and Ramos Horta — retire, the country will stagnate due to a lack of human resources. Gusmao reassured that the youth of Timor Leste were now better educated than him and Alkatiri, as they both only obtained a secondary-level education. The problem, though, is how to integrate these youths to help build the country.
Interestingly, Gusmao did not mention the problems of corruption and nepotism that hamper ordinary Timor Leste citizens who want to gain high political rank. These issues, if swept under the carpet, could slow down the country’s economic growth, which is primarily derived from oil production.
In a candid Q&A session, Gusmao was asked about Timor Leste’s reconciliation process and whether other countries might be able to learn from the process. He replied that for his country, it was not wise to follow the Palestinian intifada approach and keep fighting but rather to pursue reconciliation.
If he opted to hold the Indonesian generals responsible, then it would not be fair if the countries supplying arms to the Indonesian New Order government were not held responsible. If he pursued the blame, consequently, the young generation would suffer because it would remind them of the trauma of conflict. Therefore, for the sake of the future, he viewed reconciliation and maintaining good relations with Indonesia as more important.
Later on, Gusmao mentioned his informal meeting with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (when the latter was coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister under president Megawati). SBY sought Gusmao’s cooperation to prevent Timor Leste from being too troublesome as, at the time, Indonesia was going through its democratic transition and was politically unstable. After a long discussion, Gusmao agreed, and when he became Timor Leste president he kept his promise.
Currently, Indonesia is undoubtedly a significant neighbor as it is Timor Leste’s largest trading partner and the two countries share history and more than 90 percent of their land border. A couple of months ago, when Gusmao visited Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa also asserted the importance of Timor Leste as a neighbor with a shared border, and supported the country’s membership application to ASEAN. The argument of a shared border is a strong case that Marty raised, yet this does not guarantee the application’s success as Papua New Guinea, for example, was only granted Special Observer status to ASEAN in 1981, not full membership.
Indonesia also benefits from trade relations with Timor Leste, enjoying a huge export surplus that supports the two countries’ good relations. However, maintaining the friendly relationship could be put in doubt if Indonesia’s political condition markedly alters when the country faces its election next year.
After all, one of the candidates considered within a chance of winning, based on several national survey institutes, is Prabowo, a former general who has been accused of committing human rights violations in Timor Leste. Will Timor Leste be able to keep a cool head if Prabowo ends up leading the country next door? On the other hand, whoever becomes the next Indonesian leader, will they maintain the same composure in its relations with the newly established country? We shall have to wait and see.
The author is an associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Jun 13, 2013
Seseisal in “State of disaster"
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| Photo: Facebook - Atabyo Amaral |
*Independente, June 13, 2013
Community leaders in Seisal in the Eastern region of Baucau have called on local government to assist with humanitarian aid as residents battle to find shelter and cleanup after large scale flooding.
Heavy rain over the weekend has washed away hundreds of houses, livestock and destroyed much of the regions rice field.
Community leaders in the area reported on state television yesterday that the region was now in “State of disaster” with many people homeless and without any chance of securing an income after crops were washed away.
Law bans children from working, says Mr. Ximenes
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| Photo: UNMIT |
*Televizaun Timor-Leste, June 13, 2013 language source: Tetun
State Secretary for Professional Training and Employment (SEFOPE), Elidio Ximenes said the country’s law banned children from working and said they had rights to get access to education and proper health.
imenes made the comments in relation to the commemoration of the International Day against Child Labor.
He affirmed that in 2004 the Government of Timor-Leste allocated state budget for combating child labor in the country.
“As we have seen that some of the children are selling eggs on the road and helping parents to collect sands. This is actually banned by the law of the country,” he said.
Jun 11, 2013
SERVE One Stop Shop To Open In 2013
Noticia diak. Bainhira los mak atu estabelece duni 'One Stop shop' nee? ida nee bele hapara pratica sira nebe iha tendencia ba subornu no korupsaun...ami hein atu espalha notisia nee see guvernu estabelece duni ona. Visita ami nia blog: http://renova-timor.blogspot.com/ abraco
IRIN Asia | Timor-Leste farmers need seed support | Timor-Leste | Food Security
IRIN Asia | Timor-Leste farmers need seed support | Timor-Leste | Food Security
DILI, 10 June 2013 (IRIN) - An increase in new, higher-yield seed varieties is helping some rural communities produce more food in Timor-Leste, but greater support is still needed, aid agencies say.
“The current need to import seeds to meet the demand causes many issues for farmers and costs more than producing seed locally. Seed imported from Indonesia is often of poor quality, there are logistical issues in reaching the remote communities, and often the seed arrives late, which impacts on the time of planting that is critical,” John Dalton, team leader of Seeds of Life, a programme within the Timor-Leste Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, told IRIN.
Seeds of Life works to identify high-yield varieties of the country’s five staple crops - maize, rice, cassava, sweet potato and peanuts - that are best suited to the country’s climate. It also works to establish a national seed network, with seeds procured locally in Timor-Leste, to keep local farmers supplied.
Higher yield seeds introduced
Food security remains a challenge in Timor-Leste, where 80 percent of the country’s 1.1 million people - and 90 percent of the rural poor - depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihood, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).
“Based on more than 10 years’ research, the programme aims to not only identify the varieties that will produce the highest yield, but also to help farmers establish systems and networks for the production and storage of seed from those crops in the future,” Dalton explained.
Currently, the newly introduced seed varieties reach 27,493 farmers. By March 2014, they aim to reach more than 50,000 farmers, almost half of all farmers in Timor-Leste.
WFP says about one-third of the population regularly experiences food shortages, notably towards the end of the two lean seasons between harvests, October to November and February to March.
Each year Timor Leste needs 211 metric tons of rice seed. Two years ago, local rice seed production met 24 percent of the total demand. Today, it meets 61 percent of the total, meaning farmers are importing less seed. Local maize seed has also increased from 6 to 39 percent of the 500 metric tons needed annually.
Support for farmers
But new seed varieties are only one part of the response needed to improve long-term food security in Timor-Leste, which only gained independence 11 years ago, experts say.
“Having good seeds to plant with a reliable seed storage system owned by the community is essential. But more support is required for communities to grow healthy, nutritious food and improve food security long-term,” Kunhali Muttaje, country director for Oxfam in the capital Dili, said.
“Farmers require assistance to access arable land in which to grow crops, and to cope with the impacts of climate change. Additional challenges include land ownership and documentation, access to market and credit facilities, and support for training.”
Moreover, without addressing social, economic and gender issues, sustainable food security will not be achieved, agencies say.
“It’s important to assist communities to diversify the ways of earning a living to improve food security, such as increasing fish production and diversifying food sources. The capacity to store food needs to improve to prevent food being destroyed by insects. Gender inequalities that impact on access to food must also be addressed to improve nutrition,” Mirko Gamez Arias, a programme manager at CARE, said.
Traditional vs modern methods
Permatil, a local permaculture agency, is concerned new seed varieties will not address food security issues over the long term, noting traditional agricultural techniques and knowledge are also need to support sustainable farming.
“These new seed varieties take time to adapt with the local environment, and, culturally, farmers need to learn new ways of farming to adapt to the use of these new seeds. Mostly new seed varieties succeed in demonstration farms, but fail in the farmers’ fields,” explained Ego Lemos, head of Permatil and an environmentalist.
Lemos says to improve food security, “there is a need to diversify food crops and eating patterns”, and that policies should not “undermine traditional knowledge of the people in relation to sustainable farming, but instead respect and give more power to farmers to maintain their land, seeds, water and local wisdoms.”
He added, “Traditionally, Timorese used to eat different varieties of food crops that were grown in different seasons and based on this climate, including different grains, tubers, beans, vegetables, and protein from animals. But today Timorese eat less variety in food crops and, moreover, rice has become the main food staple. This has resulted in 90 percent of food consumption in Timor-Leste being imported,” added Lemos.
However, according to Buddhi Kunwar, a seed production advisor at Seeds of Life, “When farmers change from using the traditional maize seeds to the higher yield variety, their production increases by up to 50 percent. Gradually, the number of months that communities are food insecure is reducing because it only takes half the time for farmers to produce the same amount of food.”
ch/ds/rz
DILI, 10 June 2013 (IRIN) - An increase in new, higher-yield seed varieties is helping some rural communities produce more food in Timor-Leste, but greater support is still needed, aid agencies say.
“The current need to import seeds to meet the demand causes many issues for farmers and costs more than producing seed locally. Seed imported from Indonesia is often of poor quality, there are logistical issues in reaching the remote communities, and often the seed arrives late, which impacts on the time of planting that is critical,” John Dalton, team leader of Seeds of Life, a programme within the Timor-Leste Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, told IRIN.
Seeds of Life works to identify high-yield varieties of the country’s five staple crops - maize, rice, cassava, sweet potato and peanuts - that are best suited to the country’s climate. It also works to establish a national seed network, with seeds procured locally in Timor-Leste, to keep local farmers supplied.
Higher yield seeds introduced
Food security remains a challenge in Timor-Leste, where 80 percent of the country’s 1.1 million people - and 90 percent of the rural poor - depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihood, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).
“Based on more than 10 years’ research, the programme aims to not only identify the varieties that will produce the highest yield, but also to help farmers establish systems and networks for the production and storage of seed from those crops in the future,” Dalton explained.
Currently, the newly introduced seed varieties reach 27,493 farmers. By March 2014, they aim to reach more than 50,000 farmers, almost half of all farmers in Timor-Leste.
WFP says about one-third of the population regularly experiences food shortages, notably towards the end of the two lean seasons between harvests, October to November and February to March.
Each year Timor Leste needs 211 metric tons of rice seed. Two years ago, local rice seed production met 24 percent of the total demand. Today, it meets 61 percent of the total, meaning farmers are importing less seed. Local maize seed has also increased from 6 to 39 percent of the 500 metric tons needed annually.
Support for farmers
But new seed varieties are only one part of the response needed to improve long-term food security in Timor-Leste, which only gained independence 11 years ago, experts say.
“Having good seeds to plant with a reliable seed storage system owned by the community is essential. But more support is required for communities to grow healthy, nutritious food and improve food security long-term,” Kunhali Muttaje, country director for Oxfam in the capital Dili, said.
“Farmers require assistance to access arable land in which to grow crops, and to cope with the impacts of climate change. Additional challenges include land ownership and documentation, access to market and credit facilities, and support for training.”
Moreover, without addressing social, economic and gender issues, sustainable food security will not be achieved, agencies say.
“It’s important to assist communities to diversify the ways of earning a living to improve food security, such as increasing fish production and diversifying food sources. The capacity to store food needs to improve to prevent food being destroyed by insects. Gender inequalities that impact on access to food must also be addressed to improve nutrition,” Mirko Gamez Arias, a programme manager at CARE, said.
Traditional vs modern methods
Permatil, a local permaculture agency, is concerned new seed varieties will not address food security issues over the long term, noting traditional agricultural techniques and knowledge are also need to support sustainable farming.
“These new seed varieties take time to adapt with the local environment, and, culturally, farmers need to learn new ways of farming to adapt to the use of these new seeds. Mostly new seed varieties succeed in demonstration farms, but fail in the farmers’ fields,” explained Ego Lemos, head of Permatil and an environmentalist.
Lemos says to improve food security, “there is a need to diversify food crops and eating patterns”, and that policies should not “undermine traditional knowledge of the people in relation to sustainable farming, but instead respect and give more power to farmers to maintain their land, seeds, water and local wisdoms.”
He added, “Traditionally, Timorese used to eat different varieties of food crops that were grown in different seasons and based on this climate, including different grains, tubers, beans, vegetables, and protein from animals. But today Timorese eat less variety in food crops and, moreover, rice has become the main food staple. This has resulted in 90 percent of food consumption in Timor-Leste being imported,” added Lemos.
However, according to Buddhi Kunwar, a seed production advisor at Seeds of Life, “When farmers change from using the traditional maize seeds to the higher yield variety, their production increases by up to 50 percent. Gradually, the number of months that communities are food insecure is reducing because it only takes half the time for farmers to produce the same amount of food.”
ch/ds/rz
Xanana gets positive result from Singapore and the Philippines
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| PM Gusmao and PM Lee. Photo: Facebook |
*Suara Timor Lorosae, June 11, 2013 Language source: Tetun
Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao brings positive result from his official visit to Singapore and the Philippines because these two Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) members affirm their position to support to Timor-Leste’s application to join ASEAN.
“They (Singapore and the Philippines, red) support Timor-Leste’s application to join ASEAN, but we also recognize that Timor-Leste needs more preparations, however, they call on Timor-Leste to participate in the ASEAN summit, then, slowly we will join ASEAN,” Xanana said during a press conference at International Airport of Nicolau Lobato on Monday 10.
Xanana said through the meeting, ASEAN member states wanted Timor-Leste should join ASEAN, but the important thing was Timor-Leste should improve its human resources.
Singaporean oil tycoon to spend $ 1 billion on Timor-Leste business
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| Photo: Reuters |
*Independente June 11, 2013
Singapore oil trader and shipping tycoon Hin Leong plans to spend up to $3 billion on fuel storage terminals and distribution in Asia, with a third of that tipped for investment in Timor-Leste.
In Timor-Leste, phased investment would begin with 100,000 cubic meters of storage for four products-kerosene, gasoline, jet fuel and asphalt.
“We started supplying oil to Timor, such as kerosene for cooking to homes, in tin cans of 18-25 liters which subsequently grew to 200-litre barel,” Him Leong Chairman O.K. Lim said in an interview with Reuters last week.
Jun 9, 2013
High Way Project, Timorese Entrepreneurs is ready to do joint venture
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| Tasi Mane Highway Project |
*Suara Timor Lorosae, June 7, 2013 Language source: Tetun
Deputy President of Timorese National Consortium (CNT), Agostinho Gomes said they had sent a letter to Minister for Public Work, Gastao de Sousa to review the criteria for international tender for Southern Coast High Way Project to provide opportunity for CNT and other National Entrepreneurs to do joint venture with International Entrepreneur that get the project.
“We have sent a letter to Minister for Public Work, Gastao de Sousa to provide opportunity for National Entrepreneurs to do joint venture with international Entrepreneur that win the bidding for High Way Project,” Agostinho told journalists at His office in Fomento of Dili on Thursday 6.
The Government through Ministry for Petroleum and Ministry for Public Work (MOP) has decided not to include National Private Sector to High Way Project and the tender for the project will be closed on June 27, 2013.
President calls on all people to modernize Timor-Leste
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| President Taur Matan Ruak |
*Radio Timor-Leste June 7, 2013 language source: Tetun
President of the Republic Taur Matan Ruak (TMR) said Timor-Leste need to modernize its airport, port, education and health sector in the country, adding that the four sectors is very important to be developed but depend on the Timorese people’s commitment.
“Four sectors are very important to be developed such as build a good airport and port in the country; we should move forward and modernize our infrastructure,” TMR said.
TMR called on all entities in the country give contribution to move forward the development of Timor-Leste like other developed countries in the world.
Jun 6, 2013
Visiting Timor Leste PM on ASEAN bid: We believe we can contribute
Visiting Timor Leste PM on ASEAN bid: We believe we can contribute
Visiting Timor Leste PM on ASEAN bid: We believe we can contribute
Timor Leste PM in PHL for five-day visit. President Benigno Aquino III (left) walks visiting Timor Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao to Malacañang Palace on Thursday, June 6. Gusmao is in Manila for a five-day official visit that aims to strengthen his nation's bid to join the ASEAN.Reuters/Romeo Ranoco
(Updated 3:05 p.m.) Hoping to increase his country's chances of becoming a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),Timor Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao is in the Philippines for a five-day state visit.
Timor Leste, a former Portugese colony, is seeking membership to the regional group. Gusmao is set to visit all of the 10 member-states of the ASEAN this year.
Gusmao arrived in Malacañang about 10 a.m. and was welcomed by President Benigno Aquino III and members of the Cabinet.
“This visit to the Philippines is part of my effort to visit all ASEAN countries. [Timor Leste] is seeking membership to the ASEAN, because [we believe we] can contribute,” Gusmao said in the two leaders’ joint statement.
Gusmao also congratulated the Philippines for its upcoming Independence Day and wished Aquino success on his trip to the World Economic Forum in Myanmar on Friday.
“I would also like to wish, on behalf of the Government and People of Timor-Leste, our heartfelt congratulations on the 115th anniversary of your independence, which you will celebrate next week. [I also] wish Your Excellency every success with your visit to Myanmar,]” he said.
Timor Leste and the Philippines also signed three bilateral agreements on education, policy consultations and infrastructure.
Prior to his arrival at the Palace, Gusmao laid a wreath at the shrine of National Hero Jose Rizal in Luneta.
PHL supports Timor Leste's bid
For his part, Aquino welcomed the Timorese leader and expressed support for Timor Leste’s intent to join the the ASEAN.
“Allow me to express the Philippines’ support for Timor Leste’s bid to join the ASEAN community. We look forward to working more closely with you in the future in advancing regional dialogue, which we know will redound not only to the growth of our people and our countries, but will also contribute to the stability and continued development of our region,” he said.
Aquino hailed the excellent working relationship of the Philippines and Timor Leste, citing increased trade between the two nations.
“On the economic front, it is my pleasure to say that trade between the Philippines and the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste from 2011 to 2012 almost tripled,” he said.
“This is a positive sign of our robust partnership and with the signing of the agreements on infrastructure development and capacity building amongst others, we open more doors of opportunity for both our peoples, empowering them to take part in further building a more equitable, more progressive Southeast Asia,” Aquino added.
Assistance
Additionally, Aquino thanked the Timorese leader for his country’s assistance to the Philippines following the devastation caused by Typhoon Pablo in December last year.
“On behalf of the Filipino people, I would like to thank His Excellency the Prime Minister and Timor Leste peoples for the 750,000 dollar assistance extended to us for the victims of typhoon ‘Pablo’. The kindness that Timor Leste has shown will always be remembered by the Filipino people,” Aquino said.
Aquino and Gusmao also pledged to share military intelligence.
“In defense, the Prime Minister and I shared the same commitment to conduct military consultations and to exchange intelligence that is vital to maintaining peace and security on our part of the world. This is in keeping with the joint declaration on military cooperation which was signed by both our governments last year,” Aquino said. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News
Timor Leste, a former Portugese colony, is seeking membership to the regional group. Gusmao is set to visit all of the 10 member-states of the ASEAN this year.
Gusmao arrived in Malacañang about 10 a.m. and was welcomed by President Benigno Aquino III and members of the Cabinet.
“This visit to the Philippines is part of my effort to visit all ASEAN countries. [Timor Leste] is seeking membership to the ASEAN, because [we believe we] can contribute,” Gusmao said in the two leaders’ joint statement.
Gusmao also congratulated the Philippines for its upcoming Independence Day and wished Aquino success on his trip to the World Economic Forum in Myanmar on Friday.
“I would also like to wish, on behalf of the Government and People of Timor-Leste, our heartfelt congratulations on the 115th anniversary of your independence, which you will celebrate next week. [I also] wish Your Excellency every success with your visit to Myanmar,]” he said.
Timor Leste and the Philippines also signed three bilateral agreements on education, policy consultations and infrastructure.
Prior to his arrival at the Palace, Gusmao laid a wreath at the shrine of National Hero Jose Rizal in Luneta.
PHL supports Timor Leste's bid
For his part, Aquino welcomed the Timorese leader and expressed support for Timor Leste’s intent to join the the ASEAN.
“Allow me to express the Philippines’ support for Timor Leste’s bid to join the ASEAN community. We look forward to working more closely with you in the future in advancing regional dialogue, which we know will redound not only to the growth of our people and our countries, but will also contribute to the stability and continued development of our region,” he said.
Aquino hailed the excellent working relationship of the Philippines and Timor Leste, citing increased trade between the two nations.
“On the economic front, it is my pleasure to say that trade between the Philippines and the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste from 2011 to 2012 almost tripled,” he said.
“This is a positive sign of our robust partnership and with the signing of the agreements on infrastructure development and capacity building amongst others, we open more doors of opportunity for both our peoples, empowering them to take part in further building a more equitable, more progressive Southeast Asia,” Aquino added.
Assistance
Additionally, Aquino thanked the Timorese leader for his country’s assistance to the Philippines following the devastation caused by Typhoon Pablo in December last year.
“On behalf of the Filipino people, I would like to thank His Excellency the Prime Minister and Timor Leste peoples for the 750,000 dollar assistance extended to us for the victims of typhoon ‘Pablo’. The kindness that Timor Leste has shown will always be remembered by the Filipino people,” Aquino said.
Aquino and Gusmao also pledged to share military intelligence.
“In defense, the Prime Minister and I shared the same commitment to conduct military consultations and to exchange intelligence that is vital to maintaining peace and security on our part of the world. This is in keeping with the joint declaration on military cooperation which was signed by both our governments last year,” Aquino said. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News
Jun 5, 2013
Timor Leste premier is Palace guest Thursday
Timor Leste premier is Palace guest Thursday
Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/76609/timor-leste-premier-is-palace-guest-thursday#ixzz2VOqlZzXT
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Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, President of East Timor (Timor-Leste), shown in this 2003 photo, will confer with President Aquino on Thursday, June 6, 2013. Gusmao is here on a five-day state visit. AFP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—President Aquino will receive on Thursday visiting Timor Leste Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão before going to Burma (Myanmar) on Friday for the World Economic Forum (WEF).
A welcome ceremony at the Malacañang grounds has been laid out for Gusmão, who will proceed to the Palace after laying a wreath at the monument of national hero Jose Rizal at the Luneta.
Gusmão, who arrived Wednesday, will sit down with Aquino to discuss bilateral issues. The two will be signing agreements for which no details have as yet been provided.
The Timor Leste leader, who will be in Manila until Sunday, is here to forge cooperation on education, trade and investment, infrastructure and defense, foreign affairs officials said.
His itinerary includes a lecture at the University of the Philippines College of Law and visit to industrial areas in Subic Bay in Zambales and Clark Field in Pampanga.
Timor Leste is campaigning to become a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which the Philippines is a founding member.
Read more: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/76609/timor-leste-premier-is-palace-guest-thursday#ixzz2VOqlZzXT
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2012 Investment Climate Statement - Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste
2012 Investment Climate Statement
BUREAU OF ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS
June 2012
Openness to and Restrictions Upon Foreign Investment
Independent since 2002, Timor-Leste is establishing legislative, executive, and judicial institutions, developing laws and regulations, and equipping government personnel with knowledge and skills. Private and public institutions are in the early stages of building institutional capacity while addressing the challenges of improving the nation's basic infrastructure and bolstering the human capital endowment. Although instability and periods of violent upheaval marked the early years of Timor-Leste's history, the country has taken advantage of an unprecedented period of domestic tranquility since 2008 to focus on its national priorities, which in 2011 were: infrastructure, rural development, accelerated human resources development, access to justice, social service delivery, good governance, and public security and stability. The United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) peacekeeping operation and the International Stabilization Force (ISF) anticipate departing from Timor-Leste at the end of 2012.
Government of Timor-Leste policy welcomes foreign direct investment. It has contracted with foreign firms to explore for and develop offshore oil and gas deposits; royalties and taxes are deposited in a sovereign Petroleum Fund, which held over US$9.2 billion by late 2011. Outside the oil and gas sector, government spending, small-scale retail activity, and subsistence agriculture are primary sources of employment and contributors to Gross Domestic Product. With one of the world's most rapidly growing populations, Timorese authorities are interested in expanding private sector economic activity to provide employment for new labor market entrants.
Commerce is picking up in Timor-Leste as consumers' and business people's confidence in future political stability rises and growing government budgets fund a larger public service and more public works. In addition to oil and gas prospects, investment opportunities exist, particularly in the services, tourism, and agriculture sectors. Obstacles to investment include bureaucratic inefficiency; paucity of local financing options; absence of rules governing real property ownership and other essential legislation; uncertain implementation of government procurement procedures; significant skill shortages; perceptions of malfeasance; conflicts of interest; and corruption.
The legal system rests on a mix of Indonesian laws and regulations that have not yet been replaced. Some acts were passed by the United Nations Transitional Administration over a decade ago, and some are post-independence Timorese legislation. The country has two official languages, Tetun and Portuguese, and two working languages, Indonesian and English; all new legislation is enacted in Portuguese and based on the civil law tradition.
In September 2011, Parliament approved a new Private Investment Law to replace the Foreign Investment Law of 2005. The new law specifies the conditions and incentives for both domestic and foreign investment, and guarantees full equality for international investors. Other major laws affecting incoming foreign investment include the Companies Code of 2004, the Commercial Registration Code, and the Taxation Act of 2008. A government agency, TradeInvest Timor-Leste, reviews foreign investment applications and is tasked with helping applicants navigate licensing and registration procedures. All investors, both foreign and domestic, are required to obtain an Investor’s Certificate, which costs $500 for domestic investors and $2,000 for foreign investors. The International Finance Corporation is working with the Government of Timor-Leste to simplify business registration.
Foreign investors may invest in all sectors that are not specifically reserved to the State (such as postal services, public communications, protected natural areas, and weapons production and distribution) or otherwise restricted by law (such as criminal and immoral activities). Only Timorese nationals, either individuals or corporate entities, have the right to private land ownership; foreigners may conclude long-term (up to 50-year) leases. The lack of a land law complicates all ownership issues, and investors must often sort through competing claims from the Portuguese colonial administration, the Indonesian occupation era, and the post-independence period. As of early 2012, Parliament was considering a land law that would provide a mechanism to resolve these disputes and allow the grant of full legal titles. Foreign investments in natural oil and gas, minerals, wholesaling, and retailing fall outside the scope of the Private Investment Law and are handled through different mechanisms. In the case of foreign investments that are of particular value to the national development strategy, the option of a special investment agreement is available; such an agreement must be authorized by the Council of Ministers and provides the possibility of tax reductions or exemptions, customs incentives, leases of state property, and up to a 100-percent cost sharing in the training of employees.
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Note, several data have changed since this publication.
Note, several data have changed since this publication.
Jun 4, 2013
Municipalities to have 15% share of the profit of Petroleum Fund
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| Minister Alfredo Pires |
*Diario, June 3, 2013 Language source: Tetun
Minister for Petroleum and Natural resources (MPRM), Alfredo Pires said when municipalities had been established, 15 % of Timor-Leste’s petroleum revenue would be transferred to municipalities in each district to facilitate it.
“We propose to hand over 15 % of petroleum revenue to municipalities and to monitor needs coordination with municipalities,” Alfredo Pires said at Dili Convention Centre when presenting MPRM’s program for municipalities’ establishment.
He added MRPM would coordinate with municipalities to find each district’s wealth and the district would know its own wealth as budget to develop municipalities.
Espionage, blackmail and oil—Australian neo-colonialism in East Timor - World Socialist Web Site
By Patrick O’Connor—SEP candidate for the Senate in Victoria
3 June 2013
New revelations of illegal Australian government espionage operations during negotiations for the carve up of the oil- and gas-rich Timor Sea have laid bare the neo-colonial character of Canberra’s relations with East Timor.
Subsequent negotiations between the Howard government and the East Timorese administration of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri were marked by unconcealed bullying and intimidation. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer repeatedly shouted at Alkatiri, threatening to give him a “tutorial in politics” by sabotaging all oil and gas projects, bankrupting the already impoverished state, unless Canberra’s demands were agreed to. The Howard government earlier made clear its utter contempt for international law—under which the maritime border between Australia and Timor ought to be set at the mid-way point between the two states—by declaring it would not abide by any border rulings made by the International Court of Justice or International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.For decades, successive Labor and Liberal governments have engaged in sordid manoeuvres aimed at securing the Timor Sea energy bonanza for Australian corporations. In 1972, Canberra obtained a highly favourable maritime boundary agreement with Indonesia, which in part reflected the military junta’s gratitude for Australian support for its mass murder of around 500,000 workers and peasants in the 1965–66 coup. In 1975, the Labor government of Gough Whitlam encouraged the Suharto regime to invade East Timor, then a Portuguese colony. In 1989, the next Labor government of Bob Hawke finalised the Timor Gap Treaty with Jakarta, illegally dividing up the territory’s oil and gas, at the same time as tens of thousands of East Timorese were being killed by the Indonesian military. Ten years later, in 1999, Prime Minister John Howard militarily intervened in East Timor to oversee the transition to so-called independence in the aftermath of the Suharto regime’s collapse and to secure Australian energy interests.
The Australian government was also accused of espionage. In September 2004, during negotiations in Canberra, Alkatiri attempted to evade surveillance by ordering the Timorese delegation to stop using their mobile phones and cease holding meetings in their hotel rooms.
Further details of this espionage operation have now emerged as part of an effort by Xanana Gusmao’s current government to annul the CMATS Treaty (Current Arrangements in the Timor Sea). It is attempting to have the treaty subjected to legal arbitration, on the grounds that Australian spying during its negotiation invalidates the document.
Under CMATS, Dili agreed to Canberra’s demand that the maritime border be left undefined for at least 50 years—that is, until after the seabed’s oil and gas reserves are drained. The Greater Sunrise revenues are split 50-50 under the agreement, despite at least 80 percent of the territory belonging to East Timor under international law. If East Timor’s sovereignty over its maritime territory were recognised, it would also be able to ensure the development of a gas processing facility on its territory. Currently, an Australian-American-Japanese consortium led by Woodside Petroleum is instead demanding a floating facility in the Timor Sea. The standoff has stalled any progress on the Timor Sea gas project, frustrating the Timorese government and apparently triggering the challenge to CMATS.
Bernard Collaery, a barrister and former Australian Capital Territory attorney-general, is part of a team of international lawyers hired by the Timorese government. He explained that the Australian government had bugged government offices in Dili in 2004 during negotiations on CMATS. “It was a Watergate situation,” he told the Australian. “They broke in and they bugged, in a total breach of sovereignty, the cabinet room, the ministerial offices of then prime minister Alkatiri and his government. They placed clandestine listening devices in the ministerial conference room, we call it a cabinet room.”
He continued: “It was a carefully premeditated, involved, very lengthy operation with premeditated breaches of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and premeditated breaches of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations... This is a criminal conspiracy, a break-in on sovereign territory and a breach of Australian law.”
Collaery added that the foreign minister directed the spying: “The operation was conducted by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service and of course it operated and reported at the relevant times to foreign minister [Alexander] Downer.”
Unsurprisingly, the Labor government closed ranks on the issue. Downer’s successor, Foreign Minister Bob Carr refused to deny the allegations, insisting he was bound by the “convention” barring ministers from commenting on intelligence matters. He added that the government regarded the CMATS Treaty as valid. The Labor government functions in Timor as the unabashed representative of Woodside Petroleum’s financial interests.
Australian imperialism’s filthy record in East Timor provides an object lesson in the politics of “humanitarian” interventionism.
In 1999, the Howard government seized on violence in the territory, inflicted by Indonesian soldiers and militias, before and after an independence referendum, to proceed with pre-prepared plans to dispatch a US-backed Australian intervention force. After concluding that continued Indonesian rule of East Timor was no longer tenable, Canberra sought to maintain control over the territory’s resources and shut out rival powers such as Portugal and China by presiding over a shift to so-called independence.
The espionage operations conducted during the CMATS negotiations were among many Australian government dirty tricks and provocations carried out in “independent” Timor to advance its interests. In 2006, Canberra helped instigate a split in the country’s armed forces in order to provide the pretext for a renewed Australian military intervention, accompanied by a violent regime-change operation that brought down Alkatiri’s Fretilin government.
These operations were all justified on the basis of “saving lives” and lending “humanitarian” assistance to the Timorese people. The 1999 intervention was accompanied by a massive propaganda campaign, in which the major media outlets presented an Australian military operation as the only means to prevent genocide. The then opposition Labor Party rallied behind the Howard government, joined by the Greens, who have long been the most enthusiastic parliamentary advocates for Australian military interventions in the South Pacific.
The middle class pseudo-left organisations played a vital political role on behalf of the Australian ruling elite. The groups that now comprise Socialist Alliance organised “troops in” protests around the country ahead of the intervention, urging Howard to proceed. This helped surmount what anAustralian Financial Review editorial described at the time as the post-Vietnam “taboo” against overseas military operations, and paved the way for an expansion of the Australian armed forces and subsequent operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Solomon Islands.
The Socialist Equality Party maintained a principled stand against this pro-imperialist consensus, opposing the Australian military intervention in 1999 and again in 2006. We again condemn Canberra’s illegal appropriation of Timor’s oil and gas resources and call for the prosecution of Howard, Downer and other government figures involved in illegal activities in the oppressed country. Our campaign in the current federal election is directed toward mobilising the working class against the US-led drive to war against China, and this requires the unification of working people and the poor throughout the region, including in East Timor and neighbouring states in the South Pacific, against imperialism and neo-colonialism. The natural resources of the region should be utilised in the interests of ordinary people, ensuring high living standards for all, on the basis of an internationally planned socialist economy.
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