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Prime minister of East Timor wishes for increased investments into his country

Países
Timor-Leste
Fuentes
Govt. Finland
Fecha de publicación

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri of East Timor, which just recently celebrated the third anniversary of its independence, made his first visit to Finland. During the visit the topics of discussion included at least the development East Timor has experienced after it became independent as well as the country's economic and political prospects. According to Alkatiri it has been a challenging process to build up a democratic system in his country. The visit is part of a larger tour Alkatiri is making in Europe. On Friday May 27 Alkatiri met Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.

Alkatiri considers the relations between Finland and East Timor good. However, he wished for increased trade and investments into his country. This would be important in order to create new jobs in the country suffering from unemployment. According to Alkatiri, in East Timor the areas that offer possibilities for development include for example oil, trade and tourism. He does not wish for more development aid into his country. "It is important for us to become independent in this respect," he pointed out. Foreign Minister Tuomioja said that Finland is planning to continue its aid to East Timor at least for the time being. Finland has been among the biggest donator countries in East Timor. In the years 1999-2004 the assistance amounted to over 14 million euros.

Alkatiri also commented the question of Aceh in the press conference. He said that he supports the negotiations and hopes for a political solution. He also gave a few pieces of advice to the parties. "Firstly, it is important to build confidence between the negotiators. If there is no confidence, then there can be no solution either. Secondly, it is important to respect each other and try to reach a mutual understanding." Alkatiri estimates that the negotiations will take a long time, but he believes that, with good will of both parties, the solution can be found. Still, he does not want to try to guess the final outcome of the negotiations in advance.

The current relations between East Timor and Indonesia Alkatiri considers good, even though there are still some problems. "We have a mutually beneficial way of building up our relations. Thus I believe that we will strengthen our relations with the government of Indonesia."