DILI, 07 November 2019 (TATOLI) – Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak said his government “must work hard” to turn around its image among the business community.
Speaking after meeting with President Francisco Guterres Lú Olo, the PM admitted business conditions need to improve.
“This is not easy because the world today is very competitive. We also recently [gained] independence 17 years ago, [so] do not compare us with the advanced countries that have been self-governing for decades,” he said.
In his speech, the PM said many countries will remember Timor-Leste as a nation that rose out of conflict. But he also recognised that violence continued to post obstacles for local shop owners: such as conflict between martial arts groups spilling into the markets, and the risk of shops being burned.
Timor-Leste consistently ranks among the most difficult countries in which to conduct business. It its “Doing Business 2020” report, the World Bank ranked Timor 181 out of 190 countries overall, and in last place when it came to enforcing business contracts.
But the PM suggested the influx of investment in the oil sector is a sign things are improving.
“The fact that we bring in [those investors]… who have the initiative to invest in the Petroleum sector, this suggests that slowly, slowly people have began to have confidence in our country,” he stressed.
Reporter: Cipriano Colo
Editors: Xisto Freitas; Robert Baird
First published in Tetum as: Governu Preokupa ho Asuntu Negósiu Rai-Laran
