Paulina Quintao – Petroleum and minerals extraction may be seen as an industry dominated by men but Timorese women have shown they too have the capacity to get the job done.

Petroleum and Mineral Resources minister Alfredo Pires said women make a positive contribution to the resources industry. Pires said many leadership roles within the industry were occupied by women.

The president of the Timor Gap board is a woman, and women are represented on the Petroleum National Authority in geology and geophysics roles, he said. Within the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MPRM) women led the national minerals administration finance division.

The minister said he believed women's participation in the petroleum industry was higher in Timor-Leste than in other nations. He said MPRM provides opportunities to women to take charge as these women had the capacity and experience to perform well.

National Minerals Directorate director Elga Pereira said women needed to be confident in their abilities to do their jobs. "Foreign investors also challenge women to participate in the petroleum and minerals industries as Timor-Leste is a new country," she said.

She asked women not to be reluctant to compete with men for jobs. "Women who have the capacity to do these jobs must not be shy but must try to learn more from their job everyday so they have the confidence to compete with men," she said.

Source: http://www.thediliweekly.com/en/news/gender/12734-women-make-an-impact-in-resources-industry