It is known that the effects of better infrastructures on a country’s economy are enormous and this fact has been widely recognised in the ambitious Strategic Development Plan laid down by the Government of East Timor, which highlights that the “policy framework to 2020 will ensure that Timor has quality national infrastructures in place by the end of this decade.”

More, the Development Plan refers that infrastructure investments constitute the second pillar of public leadership and that successful economic development must be based on strong national infrastructure including roads, power, telecommunications, air and sea ports, and urban infrastructure. 

The development of essential infrastructures is, therefore, a crucial pillar of the Government’s Plan in light of the country’s needs of fundamental infrastructures to support its rapidly growing economy. The Government revenues, including petroleum revenues, will support public spending of around US$1 billion per year, with the remainder accumulating in the Petroleum Fund.

As in many other sectors of the country’s economy, the civil and public construction sector is still to be developed as there are rather few competitive domestic companies and those that exist require both technical and technological backing and know-how.  

The opportunities for international civil and public construction companies, with experience on major infrastructures works, are therefore considerable. Also opportunities for partnerships that bring together technical and technological know-how and market experience are on the spotlight. In this context, we highlight the following opportunities for private investment in the infrastructures sector: