Let me give the scale of its significance. Imagine what this means to a country where every building was burned to the ground, where there are 70 students for every teacher, where teachers have no opportunity to develop further their skills. By achieving independence so late, East Timor has had the chance to study the experience of other developing and developed countries as they develop their oil and gas industries. East Timor has seen the mistakes others have made and is determined to avoid them. East Timor understands that oil and gas investments are made for thirty years.
Investors require stability and certainty with regard to government policies.
On behalf of the East Timor Cabinet and legislature, I am here to underline our intention to develop and implement a transparent, stable fiscal and regulatory regime that will be amongst the most modern in the world, and which will enable both the companies and the East Timorese to profit from our resource. As to existing developments, East Timor had no part in devising the regulatory and fiscal regime now operating in the so-called Timor Gap. This was imposed by Indonesia and Australia without the slightest reference to the interests or concerns of the Timorese people. Nonetheless, the Timorese leadership recognises that companies should not pay the price of an illegal occupation, therefore the Timorese leadership has made a commitment, which I am authorised by the Cabinet to repeat here today to you, that with regard to existing developments, the future East Timor regulatory and fiscal framework will be no more onerous than that in place at the time Indonesia pulled out of East Timor. The UN has continued the pre-existing regulatory and fiscal frameworks during its administration and the East Timorese leadership promise a new framework that will be more modern, more stable and more business friendly.