Dili – Fledgling nation East Timor is making good progress in rebuilding its shattered infrastructure, cutting its budget deficit and making laws to stimulate its moribund economy, international donors said Wednesday.
However, East Timorese officials insist they need more aid to reduce poverty, establish a judiciary and provide security.
"We will continue with pragmatic policies and actions that are adequate to our emerging democracy," Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri told the donors Wednesday at the end of the two-day meeting that comes just ahead of the country's second independence anniversary.
"We seek perfection and excellence, but in the context of the real world ... we develop our capacities step-by-step," Alkatiri said at the conference in the country's capital, Dili. Aid donors from international financial organizations and foreign governments praised East Timor authorities for reducing the budget deficit from US$126 million in 2003 to US$30 million this year.
They also applauded Parliament for approving a commercial code and company law aimed at spurring private investment, and praised the government for improving access to health services and electricity.
"Your progress has been impressive, though the remaining challenges remain formidable," said Jemal-ud-din Kassum, the World Bank's East Asia Pacific vice president.
After four centuries of Portuguese and then Indonesian rule, East Timorese voted for independence in a 1999 UN-sponsored referendum. Indonesia's military and its proxy militias then laid waste to the former province, killing at least 1,500 East Timorese.
East Timor became independent on May 20, 2002, after a period of UN administration.
In its report to donors, the World Bank said the economy was set to grow by 1% this year after contracting 2% in 2003. Unemployment remains at 20%.
Government officials have warned that oil revenues could be much less than expected, partly due to a dispute with nearby Australia over the ownership of undersea oil fields between the two.
Meanwhile, trials over the 1999 violence are continuing. Two militiamen were sentenced Wednesday to long prison terms for killing an independence supporter.
Fifty-two people have so far been convicted by the Special Panels For Serious Crimes.