Jakarta – State lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia plans to re-open its branch office at Timor Leste at the first half of next year, the lender's chief said on Sunday.

Asmawi Syam, the president director at Indonesia's biggest micro lender, said BRI already had an office at Timor Leste when the country was occupied by Indonesia before 1999, but the office was later closed after the country's 27th province voted for independence in a violence-marred referendum after the fall of president Suharto.

"We want to come back there [to Timor Leste] because we actually had been there and the prospects [of business] are good," said Asmawi on the sideline of BRI's 120th anniversary celebration in Jakarta on Sunday.

"We are still processing the permits, hopefully in the first quarter or at the latest in the second quarter, the process [of acquiring permits] can be wrapped up," he said. He said BRI already has a customer base in the country.

Indonesia relinquished control of Timor Leste, previously known as East Timor, in 1999 after the United Nations-sponsored referendum paved the way for independence. Timor Leste, also previously colonized by the Portuguese, became a sovereign state in May 2002.

In Timor Leste, Asmawi said, BRI will try to do what it does best: offering micro-loans and loans to small and medium enterprises.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/business/bri-plans-re-open-branch-office-timor-leste/