Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak holds a virtual meeting with the World Bank’s new Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific, Manuela V. Ferro
Dili, November 23rd, 2021 – His Excellency the Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, held, this Tuesday morning, at the Government Palace, in Dili, a virtual meeting with the new Vice President of World Bank for East Asia and the Pacific, Manuela V. Ferro, to discuss the commitment between Timor-Leste and the World Bank in the national development process.
In this virtual meeting, the Head of Government took the opportunity to congratulate the Vice-President of the World Bank on her new position and revealed some points of the national development policy. In addition, issues such as food insecurity and nutrition, and the post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan were also addressed, as well as some ideas on how to reduce withdrawals from the Petroleum Fund, currently almost the only source of revenue for the Timor-Leste State, namely its replacement by a policy of increasing loans, in order to guarantee the long term sustainability of the Petroleum Fund.
Furthermore, the Government Head also took this opportunity to thank the World Bank for its support and invited the new Vice-President of this institution to visit Timor-Leste, in January next year, because Timor-Leste is planning to hold a high-level seminar, in Dili, on malnutrition, which needs to have support from international partners.
In her turn, the new World Bank Vice-President for East Asia and the Pacific, introduced herself to the Head of Government and also introduced her team in Jakarta and Dili, and continued this meeting with the Head of Government referring also to the commitment between Timor-Leste and the World Bank, regarding the national development process.
On the economic recovery policy, the Vice-President of the World Bank expressed her appreciation for these measures and noted that the World Bank strongly supports this initiative, as well as others on reducing withdrawals from the Petroleum Fund and increasing the funds obtained through loans.
The Portuguese economist also stressed that the World Bank will continue to be available to support Timor-Leste in all areas, especially in terms of food and nutrition insecurity, and expressed her hope that the country could make good use of this support for the benefit of the people of Timor-Leste. END
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