Moreover, Timor-Leste has not issued its own currency yet, but is still using USD as its official trading medium. This means that although the country remains independent politically and its sovereignty recognized globally, Timor-Leste does not possess any command over domestic monetary policies. Without the control over money supply and exchange rates, the government would be hindered from a number of choices in macroeconomics policies including inflation control, exports protection, investment encouragements, and so on. Simply-speaking, a large part of Timor-Leste’s economy is beyond the government’s reach, but depends upon the erratic moves of the American market. It is thus understandable why the financial market in Timor-Leste is relatively inefficient with little appearance of foreign funds. This conclusion can be drawn from the fact that more than 95% of investment sources were from internal sources with less than 2% from banks’ finance for investment. Timor-Leste is a rich country in terms of potentials for natural resources. Boasting a stunning landscape, capacities for planting and fishing, and especially large oil and natural gas reserves, renders the country an attractive destination. While Timor-Leste is blessed with such advantages, nevertheless these have hardly been fully utilized. The economy depends extremely heavily on crude oil exports (operated by state-run firms) while agricultural production lagged behind in terms of technologies. These facts are largely due to shortcomings in management. With more than 45% of firms established for less than five years, above 40% from five to ten years, it is understandable that the economy of Timor-Leste is still far from maturity in investment or production management as it fails to fully utilize its endowed natural blessings. There is no doubt that after twenty years guided by the UN and many other wealthy nations, Timor-Leste has demonstrated a very positive developing pattern. Nonetheless, the UNDP councils should start to consider allowing more authority for the Dili government in economic sovereignty, such as assisting in the issue of developing a national currency. This will allow the nation to exercise more drastic policies to boost the economy. Besides economic matters, encouraging the development of infrastructure including water, electricity, roads, healthcare and so on, should also be considered. Lastly, at the present time, investment training for local businessmen might be more effective than a government officer training program.
THE UIC SCRIBE
(travelwireasia.com)
Scenery on the outskirts of the Capital City Dili
30