U.S. Embassy Chargé d’ Affaires shares the mission of U.S. in Timor-Leste and MCC fund with Prime-Minister Taur Matan Ruak
Dili, January 19th, 2021 – His Excellency Prime-Minister, Taur Matan Ruak, welcomed, this Tuesday, in Government Palace, in Dili, the Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Dili, Elias Parra, for an exchange of ideas on the cooperation between the two countries.
At this meeting, the US Embassy Chargé D’Affaires shared information about the U.S. mission in Timor-Leste and also about the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project, whose fund Timor-Leste is a beneficiary. In addition, the Chargé d’Affaires also provide information on the appointment of the new U.S. ambassador to Timor-Leste, due to arrive in February this year.
He added that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the initiatives are performing a little slower, but assured that they will not stop and he hopes that the implementation agreement may be signed in June 2021.
Preparatory studies and data collection are being carried out, necessary to determine the projects that will be included in the implementation agreement, which, according to the plans, will be signed in June 2021. This program has a value of approximately US$ 283 million dollars and will be implemented over 5 years, with a special focus on education, water and sanitation.
In July 2018, the Government of Timor-Leste signed an initial financing agreement for financial support of US$ 750,000, to establish the team that is part of the Millennium Challenge Compact program, responsible for identifying the economic sectors that will receive development support during the implementation of this program. The Compact Development Team (CDT-TL) of Timor-Leste Government, led by Ambassador Constâncio Pinto, was officially established in March 2019. END