Singapore well placed to help Timor-Leste reach its potential, says Vivian

Timor-Leste is a country with great potential, and Singapore is well placed to help it achieve its development goals, Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said on Wednesday.

Speaking to Singapore media during his visit to the capital Dili, he pointed to Singapore’s “significant reservoir of goodwill, trust and political capital” with the government of Timor-Leste.

The country remembers how Singapore supported its people and the government in its infancy, Dr Balakrishnan said.

“They look to Singapore with fondness, with trust, and they hope especially that we will help them with capacity development,” he added.

Timor-Leste became an independent country in May 2002. It is 20 times bigger than Singapore, but has about a quarter of the Republic’s population.

To this end, Dr Balakrishnan said the country presents many opportunities for Singapore companies, given its young population, agriculture and tourism sectors, and oil and gas reserves.

But the fruits of that labour may not appear overnight, as some businesses based in Timor-Leste would attest to. For example, Pelican Paradise Holdings, a consortium from Singapore, has been working on an integrated resort for the past 14 years.

Another group of companies called A-Smart Holdings is developing an office, residential and commercial complex.

Dr Balakrishnan pointed out that the entrepreneur behind Pelican Paradise is not giving up despite the amount of time it has taken to finish his project, and the impetus for this lies in the recognition of Timor-Leste’s potential.

“Their plan is to capitalise on (Timor-Leste’s) natural resources and use them to help transform opportunities for the next generation,” Dr Balakrishnan said, adding that he is optimistic they will achieve economic lift-off at some point.

For this reason, uplifting the health and education skills of Timor-Leste’s youth population is key, Dr Balakrishnan said, as this would have a profound impact on the country’s next generation and its growth.

“Timor-Leste has made significant progress in healthcare over the last 20 years, but there is still much more that can and should be done,” he said.

“To see our Singaporeans participating in this partnership with the local authorities – it will make a difference.”

The minister highlighted the examples of Singaporean physicians, Dr Lois Hong and her husband Natarajan Rajaraman, who are working in partnership with the local health authorities to uplift healthcare, and Singaporeans David Chan and Jessie Chan, who started St Paul’s Methodist School in Dili in 2016 to enhance education opportunities for the children and young adults of Timor-Leste.

Beyond these ground-up initiatives, Singapore also plans to increase exchanges and mutual learning opportunities with Timor-Leste to help the country with its capacity development.

“We have had more than 800 of their civil servants spend time with us in Singapore; we have sent a team (to Timor-Leste), and we will continue to send teams and to invite them over (to Singapore),” Dr Balakrishnan said.

Timor-Leste is also interested in bringing in foreign investments, he said, and that is why Singapore’s role on this front is also critical.

“Each successful project that takes off is an advertisement of its own,” Dr Balakrishnan said, “and I think it will attract even more foreign investments.”

He noted that there are currently two direct flights a week between Singapore and Timor-Leste, and each trip takes just three hours. He expects air links to increase, and a corresponding uptick in the number of Singaporeans in Timor-Leste, be it for work or play.

“So, we will need to have a presence on the ground,” he said.

Singapore on Monday announced the

opening of an embassy in Timor-Leste

, which is to serve as a focal point for Singapore businesses and citizens working, living and investing in the country.