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Timor-Leste and Development Partners Meeting, Closing Remarks,
19 May 2004
Excellencies,
Vice President Kassum,
Ladies and Gentlemen
We have come to the final phase of this Meeting between Timor-Leste
and our Development Partners. The discussions during the past
day-and-a-half have been frank, fruitful and productive. We are
pleased that our dialogue with you, our development partners,
is helping to further strengthen our partnership in assisting
our people.
Prior to this Meeting, we had the opportunity to attend the TFET
Council Meeting on Monday afternoon. It too provided a forum for
a candid exchange of views between the Government and the development
partners that contributed to TFET, as well as the World Bank and
the Asian Development Bank, who administered the trust funds.
We feel gratified with the very positive views expressed about
further cooperation at that meeting.
Yesterday, some of you raised a number of issues. I will reiterate
the responses on these this morning:
1. Translating legislation into actions
We will continue to put our best efforts to implement the laws
and regulations on the ground, as we develop the capacities of
the various agencies. The law on the Provedor for Human Rights
and Justice has been passed by the Parliament and promulgated
by the President. Also, we have made provision in the budget for
establishment of the office of the Provedor and my Adviser on
Human Rights has organized some preliminary information campaigns
on the role of the office. The Parliament is responsible for the
appointment of the Provedor. Once appointed, the Provedor will
be responsible for the operation of the office including receiving
complaints, conducting investigations, taking remedial actions
and reporting on the work of the office to the Parliament. We
will encourage the Parliament to proceed with the appointment
of the Provedor expeditiously and provide the necessary support
to the office of the Provedor, while recognizing the autonomy
of these entities.
2. Clear Roles of PNTL and FFDTL
The organic laws on the PNTL and F-FDTL have been approved. Also,
the Organic Law for the Office of the President of the Republic
has been approved by the Parliament. The definition of the roles
and responsibilities may be better clarified after the establishment
of the Council of State and the Supreme Council of Defense. The
Office of the President of the Republic has the responsibility
to initiate the establishment of these Councils for approval by
the Parliament. In this regard, we will encourage the respective
state organs to fulfil their mandates in the next fiscal year
and provide assistance as appropriate.
3. Justice Sector Institutions
We are fully aware of the mammoth task in building the justice
sector institutions virtually from scratch. Even in more established
countries, full development of such institutions takes a decade
or longer. We have been able to establish the relevant institutions
and will complete the related laws and establishment of the Superior
Councils for the Public Prosecutors and Public Defenders during
FY2004-05. Strengthening these institutions will take much longer.
Our top priority is to improve the operation of the District courts
through, among others, the engagement of international Judges,
Prosecutors and other legal personnel. We appreciate the modest
support so far by our partners including Portugal and Norway through
the UNDP project, and the promised funding to the sector from
Australia. We seek additional support from development partners
to make the rule of law in the country a reality in the near future.
4. Petroleum Fund
As indicated yesterday, we intend to establish the petroleum
fund during the next 12 months. The fund will be established after
ample consultation with all stakeholders including development
partners. It will be based on the principle of inter generational
justice, and would include adequate governance provisions for
savings, investments, and utilization of the income and principal.
The arrangements are expected to be transparent with adequate
safeguards.
To date, the Government operations with regard to Timor Sea revenues
have been consistent with the principles of the so-called "Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative". We intend to utilize
these very same principles after the petroleum fund has been created.
This will oblige the Government to divulge completely the effective
payments by operators to the Government.
The IMF and the Government of Norway will provide technical support
in regard to the establishment of the petroleum fund, which is
one of the actions to be implemented under TSP III.
5. Private Sector
We are proceeding with a package of laws and regulations to create
the enabling environment and framework for the private sector,
both domestic and international, with due attention to the operation
of institutions necessary for implementation of the framework,
including in particular, activities aimed at stimulating new investment
and expanding employment opportunities. Key legal instruments
to be finalized and/or approved in the next fiscal year include
the company and investment laws; insurance, bankruptcy and insolvency,
cooperatives, the banking system, contract and collateral laws;
key regulations relating to land and property, and further regulations
on the leasing of Government and private property. Activities
related to the land and property registry, cadastre registry,
and land and property dispute mediation mechanisms will be pursued
with the objectives of creating a private market in land and property
sales, increasing the number of confirmed land and property titles,
and commencement of concessions, licensing for use or operation.
Also, we are preparing to establish an Investment and Export
Promotion Agency as the unique provider of information with a
view to attract direct foreign and national investment that will
contribute towards the creation of new jobs. Local entrepreneurship
is being developed through a national program of entrepreneurship.
Simultaneously, we will tackle some of the practical bureaucratic
hurdles that businesses face in their day-to-day operations. We
will transfer the business registration to the Ministry of Justice
during FY2004-05. Also, the introduction and full implementation
of the ASYCUDA system should speed up the clearance of goods in
customs and reduce the scope for bureaucratic delays and costs.
6. Corruption
As I have said many times, we have "zero tolerance"
for corruption, and misuse or misappropriation of funds. Our recent
actions confirm this. The organic law for the Office of the Inspector
General will be presented to the Council of Ministers early in
the next fiscal year. The office, which functions under my office,
will be fortified in its role of internal auditor of the Government,
to continue its program of inspections and disseminate its reports,
without duplicating the functions of the Office of the Provedor.
The Office of the Inspector General will vigorously report suspected
criminal acts or acts of bad-faith to the Prosecutor General,
within the prescribed procedures.
The Office of the Inspector General together with the Office
of the Provedor, in conjunction with the disciplinary procedures
under the recently approved Civil Service Statute would provide
adequate safeguards against corruption and abuse of power in the
public service.
We welcome the proposal by the World Bank to assist us in undertaking
diagnostic surveys on bureaucratic obstacles.
7. Capacity Development
As the Vice Minister of Planning and Finance indicated this morning,
we recognize that formulation of the medium-term capacity development
strategy is more complex than we initially visualized. Our Capacity
development and Coordination Unit will work with Ministries, Agencies
and independent entities and UNMISET, UNDP and other partners
to prepare the draft strategy over the coming months. It would
focus on institutional capacity development by each entity including
exit strategies for foreign advisers. We welcome the active participation
and support of development partners in this process.
We welcome the proposal by the World Bank to work with the Government
and other partners to formulate and implement a comprehensive
human resources development program for the Ministry of Planning
and Finance. This may be a good model to follow for strengthening
the capacity of other Ministries and Agencies.
Now let me turn to the medium term fiscal outlook and the favourable
response from you, our development partners, on our request for
extending budgetary support under TSP at current levels for FYs
2005-06 and 2006-07. We will work with you to translate these
into concrete pledges at the next Meeting with Development Partners.
As mentioned by the Vice Minister this morning, we plan to complete
the Sector Investment Programs or SIPs for the 14 sectors by August.
I wish to emphasize that we view this as a joint exercise of the
Government and our development partners. We plan to integrate
the SIPs into the Combine Sources Budget framework in the FY2004-05
Mid-Year Budget Update, and into the FY2005-06 Budget and the
medium-term expenditure program.
The SIP exercise will also provide us with the opportunity to
explore in concrete terms the desirable alternative modalities
to TFET that may be appropriate for development partners to channel
their future support to Timor-Leste outside the CFET budget. We
plan to undertake these explorations jointly with development
partners to evolve a mutually acceptable framework to coordinate
the partner support, with adequate flexibility to accommodate
partner preferences.
In conclusion, I wish to express on behalf of my Government and
the people of Timor-Leste, our warm appreciation for your understanding
and continued support to the development of our country. We will
strive to do our best to fulfil the expectations of our people
and our development partners.
For those of you leaving today, I bid you bon voyage.
Those of you staying for a few days do take time and go to the
beaches and the countryside and enjoy the warm waters and beautiful
scenery.
Thank you.
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