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Paul Wolfowitz and Condoleezza Rice praise the Government
of Timor-Leste, 27 September 2005
The World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz, and the US Secretary
of State, Condoleezza Rice, praised the development policies of
the Timor-Leste Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, in meetings on
Monday, 26 September, in Washington.
After the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund, that took place last weekend in the American capital,
the Prime Minister met with the President of the World Bank, and,
afterwards, with Condoleezza Rice, who as responsibility for the
United States' Foreign policy.
At the meeting Mari Alkatiri congratulated Paul Wolfowitz on
his new role at the World Bank, which he took up in June. Formerly
Wolfowitz was the Secretary of Defence in the American Administration.
The Prime Minister invited the President of World Bank to visit
Timor-Leste - perhaps during the next Timor-Leste Development
Partners' Meeting. Paul Wolfowitz suggested that he would like
to come as soon as January or February.
Wolfowitz said he has always followed the developments in Timor-Leste
with great interest and he asked the Prime Minister about the
key challenges still facing the country. The Prime Minister said
that Timor-Leste still needed capacity building assistance and
that the rate of unemployment is still a concern. Mari Alkatiri
emphasized that there is still a great need for private sector
investment (internal and external) and the Justice sector is still
weak. The Prime Minister underlined laws that have been introduced
recently to support the Economy, like the Investment Law (internal
and external) and the Commercial Companies Code.
The meeting took 20 minutes and as it ended the President assuring
Prime Minister Alkatiri that the World Bank will continue supporting
Timor-Leste. Wolfowitz also praised the good governance initiatives
and the efforts of the Timor-Leste to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals of the United Nations, by 2015.
Paul Wolfowitz was the US Ambassador for Jakarta from 1986 to
1989. During that time he visited Timor-Leste.
Condoleezza Rice underlines the importance of Timor-Leste's Petroleum
Fund
In the meeting with US Secretary of State, the Prime Minister
said even though the two countries have a excellent relationship
there is always an opportunity to work more closely together and
strengthen ties. He praised the USA in the support of the new
statehood of Timor-Leste. He noted that the US also plays an important
role in the application of democratic principles, human rights,
transparency and good governance. He also updated Condoleezza
Rice on the challenges facing Timor-Leste and the measures that
the Government has putting into place to address these.
Condoleezza Rice demonstrated a solid knowledge of the social
and political situation in Timor-Leste. She was very impressed
by the work of the Government of Timor-Leste and she made special
note of the Petroleum Fund, which will manage the income from
Timor-Leste's oil and gas resources. She said that the creation
of the Fund would ensure prudent management of funds and rule
out opportunities for corruption.
The Secretary of State also stated the Timor-Leste's status is
currently being evaluated to see if it is eligible for funding
by the "Millenium Challenge Account". The goal of this
US fund is to fight poverty around the world by supporting those
countries that demonstrate good governance, strong democracy and
transparency.
The Prime Minister briefed Condoleezza Rice about the negotiations
with Australia on the maritime boundaries and the Timor Sea exploration.
He also talked about the relations with Timor-Leste's largest
neighbour, Indonesia.
During the half hour meeting, the Prime Minister requested assistance
from the United States to train Timorese in doing autopsies and
post-mortem skills.
The Timor-Leste delegation, which was headed by the Prime Minister,
also included the Minister of Planning and Finance, Madalena Boavida,
the Timor-Leste Ambassador for Washington, José Luís
Guterres, the minister councillor for Timor-Leste in Washington,
Constâncio Pinto, and the director-general of the Banking
and Payments Authority, Abraão Vasconselos.
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