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Economy :
Subsistence agriculture,
forestry and fishing sustain most of the population. The sole export
products are coffee beans and sandalwood. The economy as a whole was
chronically underdeveloped as a result of centuries of neglect by the
Portuguese. The Indonesians built some basic infrastructure (roads,
power, telecommunications), but most of that was destroyed or removed
by the Indonesians themselves and their client militias in the
aftermath of the August 1999 vote for independence. Since then, East
Timor’s principal source of income has been international aid.
However, the country’s originally poor economic prospects have now
been transformed by the discovery of large oil and gas fields in the
Timor Sea, which lies between Timor itself and the north coast of
Australia. Under the terms of a deal negotiated between
East Timor and the Australian government, the East Timorese will
receive a fixed income of around US$180 million from 2006. (Additional
oil and gas deposits have also been discovered in the same area.)
There are some doubts about the integrity of the deal. In any event,
until then, East Timor will remain one of the region’s poorest
nations, with a per capita annual income of US$430.
Commercial Information :
Limited information and advice is available from the Department for
Economic Affairs and Planning (e-mail :
economic.affairs@gov.east-timor.org;
website :
http://www.gov.east-timor.org). |
