Meeting of the Interministerial Commission for the negotiation of financial support for the requalification of the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport
The Interministerial Commission for the negotiation of financial support for the requalification of the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, met on September 24, 2019, at the Government Palace in Dili, to analyze the current status of the planning of the project.
The Interministerial Commission, established on 24 May 2019, is chaired by the Minister of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and includes the Acting Minister of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Minister for Public Works and the Minister for Transport and Communications.
In order to provide technical support to the Interministerial Commission, the Interministerial Working Group for the Development Project of Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport was created by dispatch of the Prime Minister. The Working Group will prepare the project development plan, in coordination with the various governmental departments, ensuring compliance with all requirements and technical, social, environmental, financial and legal criteria.
During the meeting of the Interministerial Commission, the Working Group gave a presentation on the action plan for the development of the airport requalification. The progress achieved in the preparation of the project's master plan and the talks with representatives of various institutions and agencies were also presented.
The requalification of the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport will have the financial support of the Government of Japan. The project provides for the extension of the runway, a new control tower, the requalification of the passenger terminal and improvements of the access routes to the airport. The current runway is 1850 meters long and several options are being studied for its extension, in order to enable the landing of larger planes. During the requalification period the operability of the airport will be guaranteed. In addition to the Government of Japan, Timor-Leste also has the support of other development partners in this project, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and the International Financial Corporation (IFC).
In addition to the members of the Interministerial Commission, the meeting had the participation of technicians from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the National Aviation Authority of Timor-Leste (ANATL) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Timor-Leste (AACTL).
