Paulina Quintso – Executive Secretary of Human Capital Development Fund (FDCH), Ismenio Martins da Silva, said Timor-Leste still lacks in human resources in the discipline of the natural sciences which he hopes to be able to improve in 2016 through the fund.
He said that Timor-Leste still lacks human resources in this field including specialist doctors, medical equipment engineers, analysts for land construction and agriculture engineering, meteorology and geophysics engineers, archaeology and product transformation engineers, fishery engineers and IT forensic specialists.
"We need to improve our human resources in these areas," said Martins in his office, in Fatuhada, Dili.
He added that in 2016 these will be his priority areas for human capital development and that the parliament already approved $34 million for human capital development both inside and outside Timor-Leste.
Martins said also that from 2011 to 2015 the Timorese State has already invested $184 million to develop human resources. Based on the data provided by the FDCH, there are 3,195 scholarship recipients studying inside and outside the country and from these 595 people have already graduated and are working across government institutions.
Meanwhile, the President of Commission F (Health, Education, Culture, Veteran Affairs and Gender Equality) Member of Parliament MP Virgilio da Costa Hornai said it is very important that scholarship recipients return from their studies ready to work for the people.
"We must identify the human resources we have and award scholarships based on the actual needs of the country," said MP Hornai. He said, the human capital development funds are also available to develop the capacity of the machinery of government so the ministries must identify priority areas that need strengthening.