UN General Assembly
2007

standards of our people. According to a recent report of the Asian Development Bank, Timor-Leste’s economy will see a strong 22-per-cent growth this year due to our oil revenues. However, all this is not enough to improve the living standards of the people. The vast majority of the people who have been poor for centuries should not wait. I have pledged to be the President of the poor and I intend to be their best advocate. I am establishing a fast-track mechanism under my personal leadership to provide direct assistance to individuals, groups or rural communities. The idea is that it should take no more than 10 working days for a decision to be made on a project and for the first instalment of a grant to be disbursed. Coupled with public investments in infrastructure roads, bridges, port and airport and in the agriculture sector, Timor-Leste should see, in the medium term, a significant reduction of unemployment and a decrease in poverty levels. Regarding the presence of the United Nations, we are cognizant of the fact that the international