 The new Government will give top priority to resolving Timor-Leste’s political and security crisis. Achieving stability, however, also means reviving the stagnant economy and tackling the country’s alarming social problems. This paper and its attachments concentrate on how this socio-economic revival can be initiated. The paper and the sector notes accompanying it have been prepared by The World Bank Group (including the World Bank and IFC) and the ADB as a service to the new Government, and are offered in a spirit of friendship and commitment to the country’s future.
The economy will not revive without better security and the restoration of people’s faith in their leaders. This means radical reform of the police and the army. It means halting community violence so that IDPs feel safe enough to return home. It means delivering proper justice, and holding to account those who broke the law in 2006. These subjects will be addressed in detail in the brief that the United Nations is preparing, but their fundamental importance needs acknowledging here.
Provided the Government tackles the security situation decisively, economic progress is definitely feasible. Turning possibility into reality, however, will take leadership and great focus. In this Brief we suggest six priority economic areas, progress in which can lead the transformation of Timor-Leste’s underperforming economy and can help restore the people’s confidence in a future in which they can obtain work, feed their families and live lives of dignity.
There is an overarching need for the Government to communicate its goals and programs more clearly to the population than in the past. If the citizenry are kept honestly informed, they will develop greater trust in their leaders. If they are asked to help design and monitor the development programs that affect them, their commitment to those programs will increase and they will contribute a great deal to their successful realization.
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