TIMOR LOROSAE NAÇÃO: BNU anuncia linha de crédito de 30 milhões de dóla...

TIMOR LOROSAE NAÇÃO: BNU anuncia linha de crédito de 30 milhões de dóla...:   MSE – MLL -

Díli, 30 mai (Lusa) - O diretor-geral do Banco Nacional Ultramarino em Timor-Leste, da Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Fernando Torrão Alves, anunciou hoje uma linha de 30 milhões de dólares para financiar empresas timorenses e projetos do Governo ligados às infraestruturas.

 

Segundo Fernando Torrão Alves, o financiamento está aprovado e falta apenas uma "luz verde" e a "criação de canais facilitadores à concretização do crédito por parte das autoridades timorenses".

 

Fernando Torrão Alves falava durante a cerimónia de inauguração de uma nova agência em Díli.

 

"Esta linha de crédito destina-se a financiar as empresas timorenses e outras para projetos do Governo ligados a quaisquer infraestruturas e, portanto, é, quanto a nós, um dos instrumentos essenciais para alavancar o processo de desenvolvimento e de crescimento económico de Timor-Leste", afirmou Fernando Torrão Alves.

 

Segundo o diretor-geral do BNU, o setor privado timorense só pode crescer se tiver linhas de crédito disponíveis, mas de acordo com padrões razoáveis de segurança e metodologias reconhecidas internacionalmente.

 

"Há ainda muito por fazer (...), designadamente quanto ao registo de garantias reais que permitam melhorar os riscos sobre a concessão de crédito, baixando-se assim as taxas de juro, bem como a informação contabilística das empresas", explicou Torrão Alves.

 

O diretor-geral do BNU referia-se ao facto de, por exemplo, em Timor-Leste não ser possível fazer uma hipoteca.

 

O BNU foi o primeiro banco a instalar-se em Timor, tendo inaugurado a primeira agência bancária em 1912.

 

Em 1968, o banco construiu um novo edifício de raiz, que após a ocupação indonésia voltou a ser recuperado e abriu oficialmente ao público a 10 de julho de 2001.

 

Com a inauguração do novo balcão em Díli, a sucursal do grupo Caixa Geral de Depósitos em Timor-Leste passou a dispor de nove agências distribuídas por sete distritos.

Nota do Blogger: esta serio?

Australia and ETimor battle over resource rich Timor Sea | Connect Asia | ABC Radio Australia

Australia and ETimor battle over resource rich Timor Sea | Connect Asia | ABC Radio Australia

Australia and East Timor are digging in for their battle over treaty arrangements for the resource-rich Timor Sea.

Australia and ETimor battle over resource rich Timor Sea (Credit: ABC) 

And the big companies involved in developing multi-billion dollar gas fields have entered the fray, claiming East Timor is creating uncertainty and risk for investors.

East Timor has lodged an arbitration case against Australia to invalidate treaty arrangements which govern the shared resource.

It says it has proof Australia engaged in "covert operations" during the treaty negotiations.

Correspondent: Karon Snowdon

Speakers: Alfredo Pires, Timor Leste's Minister for Petroleum and Minerals; Gary Gray Minister Resources and Energy, Australia

SNOWDON: East Timor initiated arbitration in April over the 2006 treaty called Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea or CMATS.

It splits revenue from the lucrative Greater Sunrise oil and gas field 50-50 between the two nations.

It also delays for fifty years any claims of jursidiction or deciding on a permanent maritime boundary.

East Timor is unhappy with the current boundary which favours Australia.

To invalidate CMATS East Timor is claiming Australia engaged in "covert operations" during its negotiation.

Timor's Minister for Petroleum and Resources Alfredo Pires says the claims of espionage against Australia are serious.

PIRES: During the negotiations for CMATS there were some covert operations on the part of Australia, which allowed Australia to obtain some confidential information from the Timor Leste side.

SNOWDON: What was the precise nature of that problem as you've identified it. Was it getting hold of documents they shouldn't have or was it wire tapping or what?

PIRES: This is very legal at the moment but its along those lines. What we're saying we will present the proof in due course.

SNOWDON: So documents or telephone tapping?

PIRES: Whatever evidence is required for us to prove that those things were carried out.

Click on the link to read further...

Timor Leste turning 11 Years Old

Flags infront of Presidential Palace - Dili. Photo: Paizinho Tilman

Timor Leste is turning 11 years old but, in ordinary terms, what is there to celebrate?

On the security sector, there is one thing to be proud of, both the Defence Force and the Police are able to maintain national security post UN mission and continuously fighting issues at its frontier -  drug and human trafficking. Returning the CPD-RDTL members from Alas rice fields to their Districts was also another achievement. However, the issue on CPD is far from over yet. It remains a pebble in the shoe of Timorese government.

On the governance sector
The Xanana' government is trying to include the opposition to important government programs like the Special Economic Zone of Social and Market -Oecusse. This raised eyebrows of CNRT party militants  as the Prime Minister is trying to leave behind party-system, the winners rule, towards nationalist approach where capable Timorese are involved in development program regardless of their political opinion or affiliation. The question is, how far can all-embracing effort go? The V Constitutional government is also pushing its decentralisation program - Camara Municipio - if possible, the first four pilot municipal, to realise this year and the rest to follow in 2015. However, experiences have shown doing things the emergency way never work. This is an interesting area to look out for.

Comoro Bridge II. Is it worth a celebration?. Photo Johanes Hornai

On social services and basic infrastructure, by far, education and health care is free in Timor Leste but it is not without its setbacks. As much as education is concerned, the big size of Education Ministry is not taking effect yet. Along with he issues of poor quality education, the short-semester systems in Universities were criticised as low quality graduates only add up to the existing high unemployment rate. The civil society's suggestion for an increase in state budget for education sector should be taken seriously. Otherwise, medicine shortages in the National Hospital, poor clean water in Dili and regular power cut would hinder people from actively participating in the economic development.


On Justice sector
The recent case on Claudio Ximines and Aniceto Guterres shows how vulnerable the Timorese justice sector is. There is the need of further socialisation on the power separation among state institutions and justice should be make available to all citizens regardless of their economic and politic status.


Economy and Business sector
After 11 years of independence, undeniably oil remains as the backbone of the country's income.  Throughout the last five six years, the oil income compose of 90% of the state expenses. The diversification has been slow. Simply, the agriculture and tourism sector is not producing as it ought to be. The National Parliament has to work hard to pass the 10-year old proposed Land Law so that it gives confidence to private businesses and investors. Timor Leste is bidding to join ASEAN, the dream will come about in two years time. However, if it does not prepare itself economically, foster its local businesses and small industries, it will be absorbed into the high producing and export-oriented countries in ASEAN and therefore become a basket case for the ASEAN Economic Economic (AEC).

In short, Timor Leste has little to celebrate and much assignments ahead. The government has announced it has failed in achieving MDG but it can't afford to fail the ASEAN bid and development towards the 2030 dream. So, have just a little champagne and get back to work!

Timor-Leste vs Australia discuss economic policy

Photo: www.scouts.com.au

*Suara Timor-Lorosa’e May 16, 2013 language source: Tetun
Timor-Leste and Australia has held discussion about economic policy as the economic policy issues is very important to the people and the country.

“We held a discussion about how to seek  ways to better strengthen economy and politics as Dr. Jenny Gorden is an economist; therefore she has good experience in research of economy and politics” Chief of Presidential Palace, Fidelis Magelaes said.

Magelaes said Dr. Jenny also shared her experiences and her point of view about relationship between economic policy and science with the state.

Minister Pires launches Mineral Law

Minister Alfredo Pires

*Televizaun Timor-Leste, May 16, 2013 language source: Tetun
Minister for Petroleum, Alfredo Pires has officially launched the draft of the country’s Mineral Law and it will be handed over to the Council of Ministers for approval.

“This is our draft law and it will be sent to the Council of Ministers to approve it. With this law we can protect our natural resources, such as gold, magnesium and others,” Pires told journalists.

Pires affirmed they would also consult civil wit organizations with about this law, so that they could give inputs.

National Director for Petroleum, Roberta Soares said this law would benefit companies that would explore the country’s natural resources in the future.

Ximenes to reform judicial system

Claudio Ximenes. Photo: easttimorlegal.blogspot.com

*Timor Post, May 14, 2013 language source: Tetun
President of the Court of Appeal, Claudio Ximenes said he was currently waiting for laws to reform Timor-Leste’s judicial system.

Ximenes made the comments after meeting with President of the Republic yesterday at the Palace of the President.

He affirmed that, he met with the President of the Republic to inform him about the Court of Appeal’s activities and its future plans. 

Ximenes added that, some laws were being amended and would strengthen human resources to reform the country’s judicial system. 

Economic zone in Oe-cusse will employ 6000 workers, says Alkatiri

Elidio Ximenes and Mari Alkatiri. Photo: Leonia Monteiro

*Radio Timor-Leste May 14, 2013 language source: Tetun
Former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said the special economic zone that would establish in Oecusse District would employ 6000 of Timorese people; therefore the Government should better prepare quality of human resources.

After meeting with State Secretary for Professional Training and Unemployment (SEFOPE) Elidio Ximenes at his residence, Farol, Dili yesterday May 13, Mr. Alkatiri said the Government needed to prepare and capacitate human resources to respond t the economic zone in the future.

“To better implement the especial economic zone in Oecusse District we need 2000 foreign national architects from abroad as we lack architect to implement the especial economic zone project,” Alkatiri said.

De Jesus: GoTL must build 1000 replacement houses near airport

Dili Airport - an aerial View - Photo: Acacio Angel

*Independente may 13, 2013The East Timorese Government must build at least 1000 replacement houses for the people it is evicting living close to the Dili International Airport.

Comoro Village chief, Eurico de Jesus, said people from four villages faced eviction by the Government in order to make way for development of the airport.

“The information that the community is concerned with is not whether the development must continue, but that the Government must create a good condition for the community such as their houses before moving them to another place,” he said

Alfredo Pires and Alkatiri discuss southern coast project

Alfredo Pires and Mari Alkatiri - Photo: Leonia Monteiro

*Timor Post, May 13, 2013 language source: Tetun
Minister for Petroleum Alfredo Pires has recently met with the ex-Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, to discuss on the country's two mega projects, the southern coast [supply base] and industrial zone projects in the enclave district of Oe-cusse.

Speaking to journalists Minister Pires said it was important to coordinate the project with all entities.

“Like other ministries, we need to coordinate the project, such as the southern coast project and industrial zone. And of course it needs to be coordinated to avoid double efforts,” he said.   

Pires added that, he and Mr. Alaktiri discussed the issue of the southern coast project in general and also the economic industrial zone. 

Alaktiri has officially taken Australia to arbitration court in order to seek for solution to CMATS problem.

Time to draw the line between Australia and Timor Leste - Eureka Street

Time to draw the line between Australia and Timor Leste - Eureka Street

Frank Brennan - Photo: www.eurekastreet.com

"The political leadership in Timor Leste is losing patience with Australian claims to both decency and exceptionalism. On 20 May, Timor Leste will celebrate its 11th anniversary of independence. Their government leaders think it is now time to start the painstaking work of determining their maritime boundaries with Australia.

Australia's game of pleading exemption from UN determination processes while delaying two party negotiations for decades has run its course. Especially if the Sunrise joint venturers have no intention of processing gas onshore in Timor Leste, the Timorese deserve 'permanent certainty' about their maritime boundaries."

Click on the link to read more...

Ministry of Finance and MAFP hold workshop to discuss coordination line

H.E. Emilia Pires. Photo: www.georgetown.edu

Televizaun Timor-Leste, May 9, 2013 language source: Tetun 
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries have held a meeting to discuss about coordination line among economic-strategic ministries.

Speaking to journalists, Minister for Finance, Emilia Pires said the meeting was aimed at increasing economy growth of the country.

Pires also said the coordination should be made to avoid overlapping activities in the field of strategy of economy. 

“Many ministries that we need coordinate, as they almost in the same area. Their activities should not duplicate one another, but they should complete one another,” she said.

Timor-Leste: Stability at What Cost?

Dili/Jakarta/Brussels  |   8 May 2013

Although swelling oil and gas revenues have bought Timor-Leste peace, political empowerment, security reforms and fiscal caution are needed to ensure stability can outlast the boom.

“The government has been less interested in pursuing difficult reforms than in transforming the image of a country known for too long as a place of violence” Jim Della-Giacoma, Crisis Group’s Asia Program Director

Timor-Leste: Stability at What Cost?, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the situation following the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers in December 2012 after two successful elections that demonstrated the young country’s stability. Although pragmatic decisions by local leaders after the 2006 crisis to spend their way out of conflict have worked so far, this strategy is unsustainable as revenues from the petroleum industry may start dwindling soon.

The report’s major findings and recommendations are:

• Elections have centralised power in the hands of a few. Although the government and the sole opposition party have a better working relationship, parliament and the broader policy and legislative development processes remain somewhat anaemic.

• Stability has not come through institutional reforms within the security sector, whose weaknesses triggered the 2006 crisis. Policing capacity remains weak, the army's role is still not clearly defined and broader institutional arrangements providing a clearer division of labour among the state's security forces need to be formalised.

• The government needs to be more prudent about spending and ensure that investment generates long-term returns. The greatest challenge will be to make progress in providing economic opportunities without exhausting national wealth. The government will have to prioritise the search for more sustainable employment for a rapidly growing workforce, driven by one of the world's highest birth rates.

• Dili will also need to find ways to tackle the perceived growth in social inequality, produce visible results against corruption, and work with parliament and civil society in order to produce legislation and policies that enjoy a greater degree of public legitimacy.

“Timor-Leste deserves praise for the success with which it has implemented pragmatic policies that stabilised the country following the 2006 crisis”, says Cillian Nolan, Crisis Group Senior South East Asia Analyst. “There are, however, serious concerns about sustainability that will have to be dealt with over the next decade”.

“The government has been less interested in pursuing difficult reforms than in transforming the image of a country known for too long as a place of violence”, says Jim Della-Giacoma, Crisis Group’s Asia Program Director. “Promoting confidence at home and abroad is important for transforming any post-conflict society. But Timor-Leste has a very limited window of opportunity for making the changes that might mitigate the still real risks of an eventual return to conflict”.

Developing people’s products, Govt will export it

Photo: buildingmarket.org

*Suara Timor-Leste May 8, 2013 language source: Tetun
To promote people’s local products in Timor-Leste, recently the Government through Minister for Commerce and Industry (MCIA) will export local products to Singapore and China based on the target that they have signed.

MCIA Antonio da Conceicao said MCIA thought of including the people’s local products to be exported to Singapore and China.

“All companies should have good preparations; therefore Timor-Leste will show something to the country and its people,” he said.

 

"Timorese Development: Capitalism, Communism or Mauberism?"

AcacioAngel

There is an interesting discussion that is going on Facebook - ‘Emerging Leadership group’ -  that questions the path of development taken by Timor Leste. It is interesting to spend some time on the thoughts and comments because the terms ‘capitalism’, ‘communism’ and ‘mauberism’ recurrently appear in Timorese public discussions and political rhetoric. Now, the intryguing thing is that these terms have been used plainly without any clear definition provided by the commentaries, which in turn raises more questions. For instance, one of the comment questions what people mean by the term ‘Mauberism’. Otherwise, two other terms, capitalism and communism are widely used in Timorese socio-political parlance but there is no critical assessment on the terms in relation to Timorese economic development. 

Topic for discussion by Aze Aparicio

First of all, there is no such thing as a Mauberism model of development or at least I haven’t heard of its principles that could be used as road map to development.  Maubere is a local word for a native-male man, often associated with being dirty, uncivilized, dark skin, etc.  I am not going further to develop its semantic meaning and or its uses during the Portuguese period. Nonetheless, the term was used by the founding fathers of the country to represent Timorese and advance their cause for self-determination. Although not all Timorese want to be called Maubere people – some rather prefer to simply be called Timorese – the term unites Timorese of various social groups and descendants for a common cause, which was to be free from colonization. In one of Colloquium at the UNTL a few years ago, Dr. Mari Alkatiri turned down the idea of over emphasizing the term ‘maubere’ (or mauberism) because it was arbitrarily used by the early revolutionary activists to emulate nationalism and advance Timor’s case at the international stage. The FRETILIN party is credited for employing the word to mobilize the independence movement. In post independence, the term is widely used by other political parties during campaign periods to attract voters.

Maubere! who do you vote for?

Now, left with Capitalism and Communism, the question is which  system does the country implement? These two terms are also loosely used in Timorese conversations. Capitalism, a mode of production that relies so much on surplus value, has had negative connotations in Timor Leste.  It is closely associated with the terms ‘colonialism’, ‘imperialism’ and ‘fascism’, which Timorese aimed to overthrow by revolution. During political campaigns or protests we often hear young Timorese yelling “Abaixo colonialismo, imperialismo e capitalismo, etc.” Otherwise, after the independence, there are more sporadic voices of people accusing  certain Catholic Church’s practices to be capitalistic or, at least, practicing petit bourgeois, something contrary to what it preaches. That is, on one hand, it preaches poverty but on the other hand they live from the alms of the poor people. Otherwise, we often hear political rhetoric from western capitalist states or local churchgoers who labeled FRETILIN or, at least, its leaders to be  communist. It is now a public knowledge how the western superpower countries used that branding to support the Indonesian invasion or, in the case of the 2005 church-organized rally, people shouted ‘Alkatiri comunista’, etc. The good news is that neither the church is capitalist nor Dr. Mari Alkatiri (FRETILIN) is communist.

Adam Smith vs. Karl Marx

Back to the question, which of the two (or three) systems does the country adopt in its development policies? The answer is none of the above.

The fact is, Timor Leste does not fully prescribe to either capitalist or communist principles for its economic development. The economic and development policies adopted this far has been a mix of all the above. This is because none of the two antagonistic cold-war systems has succeeded in leading countries to long-term economic growth and full development.

First, communism is a Utopian ideal. Marx’s suggests communism to be the final stage of all systems of development. After the continuous class struggle that led to the failures of previous systems, feudalism and imperialism, the then capitalism would fail too to be replaced by communism where the majority class, proletariat, owns the means of production. However, no country, not even the former USSR, has succeeded in achieving communism.  Lenin and Stalin’s Bolshevik party failed in leading the then USSR to achieve Marx’s idea of communism, and so has Mao’s China. Despite Mao’s effort to quickly transform China to rapid industrialization, which is the necessary condition for socialism and then to communism, his economic policies such as ‘great leap forward’ failed and brought the country into horrible famine in its history. Instead, both Russia and China hid under a communist jacket and applied state socialism to be where they are now. I don’t see Timor Leste is going down that path as yet.

Second, the country is not practicing full capitalism either. Capitalism has its own internal contradiction too, which the global financial crisis could serve as an example. But in Timor Leste’s development case, it is still far to implement capitalism or its principles because the system depends on external factors such as infrastructures, laws and regulations. Capitalism, which is characterized by mass production, market liberalization and cheap labor, could only flourish where there is good infrastructure in place, well-regulated economic activities and high reserve of unskilled labor. Instead, Timorese state has been the main and biggest investor in almost all sectors of development.

So, what system does Timorese governments adopt, then? The five consecutive governments have applied a little bit of the good things from both capitalist and socialist principles. The first constitutional government focused its program on, just to name few, basic infrastructure and services such as clean water, free education and basic health services. This could be seen as Mauberian approach because it deals with that of which really basic to the people. The fourth and fifth constitutional governments, with their fiscal flexibility, took up more rigorous projects in infrastructure along with financial services and social welfare. Many call this type of mix as ‘middle-way’ system (some call it social democrat idealism). That is, on one hand, the government is taking the capitalist role in investing heavily in infrastructure, goods and services that is the realm of the private sector or capitalists, so to speak. It provides mechanisms for private sector empowerment through programs like Pakote Referendum, PDDs, Concorcio Nacional Timorense (CNT), providing loans/credit to small enterprises and many more. In the area of agriculture, the government is also involving indirectly in production output through subsidies, which is not allowed in a neoliberal-free trade system. Apart from these production related activities, the state is also involved in stimulating demand through social welfare programs (payments to veterans, the Aged, widows and the orphans) and many more. This public sector expenses will eventually stimulate growth that pave the way for the emersion of a strong private sector.

This middle way has been practiced, at different levels, in Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Norway, Denmark as well as our neighbouring Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (Others call it state interventionism). The objective of this middle way practice is to achieve economic development without having to patronise any of the two systems. It is to break away from ‘golden strait jacket’ and tailor it according to the stages of Timor Leste’s development.

After all that has been said and done, I think, for now, the middle-way is working effectively for Timor Leste’s development. The state’s capitalist character is needed at this time to create conditions for local industries to produce consumer goods by which the money will be spent locally, rather than always being dependent on imported goods. The social democrat character of social objectives ensures that there is equal wealth distribution and no single Timorese is left behind in this whole development process. Why mind capitalist and communist idealism when there is a middle-way?

It is not the time yet for Timor-Leste to do Miss Timor event

The Planning Committee for Miss Timor Leste 2013

*Diario, May 6, 2013 Language source: Tetun
 Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said actually it was not a time for Timor-Leste to do Miss Timor-Leste event because there were many priorities programs that the Government needed to do.

“Currently people are concerned about Miss Timor event and it is not exact time for Timor-Leste now to organize this event, but Miss Municipality is more important to do in the country than Miss Timor now” Xanana said when disseminating municipality plans and programs in Ermera on Friday 5.

He added that there were many Miss in Timor-Leste and to eliminate those Miss in Timor-Leste, Timorese people needed Miss Municipality to be implemented because it was important to take people out from poverty.

To join ASEAN Timor-Leste needs to fulfill three main pillars

Timor-Post May 6, 2013 language source: Tetun
 State Secretary for ASEAN Roberto  Soares said to join ASEAN Timor-Leste need to fulfill the three main pillars such as politic, security, economy and socio cultural before join ASEAN.

“To join ASEAN we continue to make an evaluation to fulfilling the three main pillars before joining ASEAN,” he said. The pillars are namely politics, economic and security sectors.

He added Timor-Leste has produced the report about economic pillars but the security and politic just in evaluation and next month it would produce.

He added Timor-Leste need to capacitate its human resource to fulfill the three main pillars before join ASEAN as it is important to join ASEAN.

East Timor defends allegations of Australia espionage over gas project

Minister Alfredo Pires. Photo: easttimorlegal.blospot

Updated 6 May 2013, 16:01 AEST

East Timor's Government says it's ready to back up its allegations that Australia used espionage during negotiations over the multi-billion dollar Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea.

East Timor defends allegations of Australia espionage over gas project (Credit: ABC) 

The treaty called Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea or CMATS splits revenue from Greater Sunrise 50-50 and restricts negotiations on a permanent maritime boundary.

But East Timor has initiated arbitration and is seeking to have the treaty declared invalid, saying Australia did not negotiate in good faith.

The Australian Government has rejected the premise of the action, saying the treaty is valid.

Seven years on from the treaty signing the Greater Sunrise field remains untapped because the operator Woodside wants to process the gas on a floating platform.

But East Timor wants it piped to its south coast for onshore processing.

Reporter: Sara Everingham

Speakers: Alfredo Pires, East Timor's Natural Resources Minister

PIRES: On the 23rd. April, this year, the government of Timor Leste formally issued an arbitration to the government of Australia regarding the CMATS agreement.

EVERINGHAM: Why does your government say that this treaty is invalid?

PIRES: Specifically, we are raising the issue that during the process of negotiations, there were some exercises of covert operations that allowed the other side to have information which assisted the inquisition itself during the process of negotiations.

EVERINGHAM: The Australian government says that these allegations are not new. Does your government have any new evidence?

PIRES: What I can at this stage, we are now in a legal process. Timor Leste has made an allegation and through the legal process and in due course, we have to back up those allegations. We've made those allegations and we are prepared to back up those allegations according to the legal procedures that has been established in international forums.

EVERINGHAM: East Timor now has the option of cancelling the treaty. Why not just do that?

PIRES: Legal opinion states that in doing that, we run the risk of also terminating the international (word indistinct) agreement and also terminating the Timor Sea treaty and possibly running into the regulating bodies existence as well, so that's quite a bit tricky. The better option is to invalidate CMATS and go on about discussions, how we move onto the future, so that is the preliminary analysis of the legal situation.

EVERINGHAM: What is it about the treaty that East Timor's not happy with?

PIRES: Well, it's not the treaty, it's CMATS itself does state quite clearly there that it's not enough to solve the issues that we have and we can terminate. But the treaties itself there are some clauses which says that even if we terminate CMATS itself , according to the rules of CMATS, we can come up and discuss and come up with an agreement, but at anytime in the future, should production start in Greater Sunrise, we go back again to the original CMATS. So those kind of clauses come together, it's quite messy and it will not provide certainty that big money needs for that. So we want something more certainty, longer certainty in the Timor Sea for us to be able to do business in the long term.

EVERINGHAM: Is this a negotiating tactic to get Australia and Woodside to reconsider building the pipeline to East Timor?

PIRES: No, there are still important issues in this as well. There's an issue about relationships between the two countries, about Timor Leste seeking a proper relationship, an honest relationship something where two countries can look at eye-to-eye and we don't need to resort to these other illicit activities and that's one. And the other part is we need a much permanent certainty to provide for the private sector to be able to operate in that area and we are after more equitable outcome in these arrangements.

EVERINGHAM: How does invalidating a treaty provide more certainty?

PIRES: Well, by having that treaty, now we've got all this confusion at the moment, so companies are a bit concerned, but by sitting down and looking at it and coming up with something that's a much more robust without those confusing articles. We maybe able to come up with something much more certain.

EVERINGHAM: Is there a risk though, that invalidating the treaty could scare off investors?

PIRES: Yes, we don't shy away, that there are risk elements there, but in the oil and gas industries, countries, companies oil and gas is a different animal. People analyse the risk elements. I'm sure all companies involved in the Timor Sea joint petroleum area have very capable legal people. They've analysed all the consequences and so forth. But at the end of the day, when you have a field that is big and it's world class, the bees always come to the honey.

EVERINGHAM: Are you concerned this will affect the overall relationship with Australia?

PIRES: No, no. The relationship between Timor Leste and Australia is a very mature relationship. In mature relationships, you can enjoy the benefit of having differences and finding ways to work this out. For Timor Leste, we don't mix this particular issue with our relationship. We've had other relationship with other neighbours, which was much more bitter, but we are now very good friends, we've reconciled, we have other issues, but we go through the process and it's solved. You try to fix it and move on.

Canberra accused of East Timor espionage

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Sen. Bob Carr. Photo: The Daily Telegraph

AUSTRALIA is facing an allegation of espionage from neighbour East Timor over the negotiation of a resources revenue-sharing treaty.

The issue concerns the 2006 Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea, which equally divides the revenue stream from oil and gas assets found in waters between the two countries.

In correspondence sent to Canberra in late April, East Timor argues the treaty is invalid because Australia engaged in espionage when the agreement was being negotiated in 2004.

In a joint statement today from Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, the government declined to confirm or deny the allegation.

“However, Australia has always conducted itself in a professional manner in diplomatic negotiations and conducted the CMATS treaty negotiations in good faith,” the statement reads.

While Australia considers the treaty active, East Timor has initiated arbitration which, if pursued, will see the matter considered by a tribunal consisting of a representative of each country and an independent third party.East Timor will allege that during mediation in 2004, Australian negotiators became aware of relevant information confidential to its northern neighbour.

The treaty includes a clause enabling either party to request arbitration through diplomatic channels.

Australia is considering its response to East Timor's notification, the statement said.

AAP