East Timor
ADB's 61st Member
East Timor
Facts and Figures
- Population: 800,000
- Capital: Dili
- Major Languages: Tetum, Portuguese, English, Bahasa Indonesia
- Major Religion: Christianity (Roman Catholic)
- GDP Growth
- 1999: -34%
- 2000: 15%
- 2001: 18% (estimated)
- 2002: zero (projected)
- 2003: 2% (projected)
- Main Economic Activity: Agriculture
- Major Export: Coffee
- Natural Resources: Offshore oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea, being developed by Australia under the Timor Sea Treaty signed on 20 May 2002; production is expected to begin in 2004 and gas deliveries are expected to begin in late 2005
Some Important Dates
- 1975: Portugal ends more than 450 years of colonial rule
- 1976: Indonesia annexes East Timor
- 1998: Indonesian President Suharto resigns; Vice-President B. J. Habibie replaces him
- 23 June 1999: Indonesia announces a plan to grant East Timor extensive autonomy
- 30 August 1999: In a UN-supervised referendum, an overwhelming 78.5% of voters choose independence over autonomy within Indonesia. In the violence that erupts after the vote, hundreds of people are killed, and hundreds of thousands are forced to flee their homes
- 26 October 1999: Indonesia officially hands over authority of its former territory to the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET)
- 30 August 2001: East Timor elects a constitutional assembly
- 14 April 2002: East Timor elects Xanana Gusmão as the country’s first president20 May—UNTAET hands over authority to the elected Government of independent East Timor
The Democratic Republic of East Timor became the 61st member of ADB on 23 July 2002.
To coincide with the event, East Timor Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Jose Ramos-Horta, paid a courtesy call on ADB President Tadao Chino and expressed appreciation for ADB’s continuing involvement in the economic reconstruction of East Timor. President Chino assured Minister Ramos-Horta that ADB would continue to work closely with the Government and funding agencies to address poverty in East Timor, one of the poorest countries in Asia.
ADB plans to send a country consultation mission to East Timor shortly to formulate a medium-term assistance program.
Although East Timor was not yet a member of ADB during the pre-independence period—through special dispensation from the ADB Board of Directors—it was eligible to receive ADB technical assistance grants.
Since 2000, ADB has approved 19 technical assistance projects for East Timor, amounting to $8 million, from grant funds. This assistance helped prepare projects, build capacity, and provide policy advice in key sectors and for economic management.
During the past 2 years, ADB also served as coadministrator of the multidonor Trust Fund for East Timor (TFET). ADB processed and supervised six TFET projects totaling $52.8 million, covering the restoration of physical infrastructure—particularly roads, ports, water supply, and power facilities.
ADB also prepared and is implementing a TFET-financed microfinance project, under which a microfinance institution has been established and is operating successfully.
ADB has a Special Liaison Office in East Timor. The resident representative is Mee-ja Hamm.
POWER STATION A community leader from the Ermera district of East Timor briefs President Chino (right) on local priorities and development plans
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