Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 2006 > Committee on Foreign Affairs > Report No. 04 - Project Timor-Leste

Appendix 3 NDP Goals

a) Improve the education, health and nutritional status of the people of East Timor; promote gender equality and the empowerment of women; improve the economic, social and cultural well being of individuals, families and communities in East Timor; create human resources that are skilled and professional in accordance with the interests and talents in each field; and ensure equal opportunities to obtain work and effective utilization of labour.

b) Transform the subsistence economy into a market economy; achieve food security; and protect the environment.

c) Achieve and sustain rapid economic growth, utilizing to the optimum the country’s human, financial and natural resources; with low inflation and increased employment adequate to cater to the growing labour force; a stronger banking and finance sector; maintain a competitive real exchange rate with more exports and less imports; create equitable business opportunities and increase incomes, especially in rural areas.

d) Reduce poverty among women and men; establish a social safety net to reduce the burden on those in society who are unable to work/help themselves.

e) Promote private initiatives, innovation and investments by creating enabling and supportive environments - including policies, legislation and regulations, reliable supplies of electricity, water, roads and transport, marketing and banking systems, and a competent, productive and disciplined labour force.

f) Secure and maintain the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation; create and maintain durable internal peace, security and stability; prevent crime and involve the community in the reduction of crime; and make the country attractive and safe to citizens and visitors.

g) Promote integrated rural development to generate remunerative employment and sustainable livelihoods, increase rural incomes, reduce poverty, accelerate economic growth and reduce the gap between rural and urban areas.

h) Promote an orderly development of cities and towns that are pleasant (e.g. with parks and playgrounds), not crowded, affordable and friendly to the environment.

i) Achieve balanced regional development to reduce poverty, improve the lives of East Timorese in all regions, enhance and exploit complementarities between regions and agro-ecological areas, accelerate economic growth, and reduce regional disparities.

j) Achieve growth in government (budget) revenues to improve financial independence; effectively manage oil and gas revenues and savings to benefit present and future generations; and ensure responsible, efficient and productive management of government (budget) expenditures to promote poverty reduction and growth.

k) Develop and administer an effective, accessible and impartial system of justice, which is prompt and transparent, and in conformity with the positive values and cultural heritage of East Timor; create an effective and independent system to oversee, monitor and remedy the potential excesses of the government and its functionaries.

l) Strengthen an already robust civil society, and create opportunities for its constructive engagement and participation in national life, and enhance the participation of citizens in public and national affairs.

m) Foster a culture of respect for human rights (particularly for women, children and other vulnerable groups, including the poor) and the rule of law; create public trust in a fair and just public administration; establish control mechanisms to monitor levels of responsibility amongst government officials and public authorities.

n) Promote good governance through popular participation; a responsible and responsive government including a lean, efficient, effective, accountable and transparent civil service and effective, professional, non-political defence and police forces; a decentralized administration with simple and transparent norms, so that governance and public administration is closer to the people; a socially responsible private sector; transparent and accountable civil society organizations; and a responsible, independent and effective media.

o) Foster a robust multiparty democratic system; establish and sustain a system of checks and balances between the judiciary, the legislature and the executive (i.e. the Courts, the Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the President).

p) Build and strengthen regional and international political, economic, scientific and cultural cooperation.